'Soul Surfer' to speak at Show Me Center

A shark attack severed Bethany Hamilton’s left arm while she was surfing off the Hawaiian coast in 2003. But despite losing a limb at age 13, Hamilton refused to give up her passion for the waves.

A month after the terrifying attack, she was back in the water. She returned to surfing competition in 2004, winning her first national title a year later. In 2007, she realized her dream of becoming a professional surfer.

Hamilton credits her faith in God and the support of her parents for her ability to overcome the traumatic ordeal.

Hamilton will bring her inspirational message to Cape Girardeau on April 4

Hamilton will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Show Me Center to close out Southeast Missouri State University’s 2015-2016 Speakers Series.

“My hope was in so much more than myself,” she said Thursday in a telephone interview from her home in Hawaii.

She said her message is for everyone who has faced a difficult time in their lives. “We can all relate to each other in one way or another.”

Shortly after losing her arm, Hamilton recalled, she felt a “unique sense of peace.” She added, “I just knew God was going to keep me in his grace.”

While hospitalized, Hamilton talked to a man who had learned how to surf with one leg after losing a limb to a shark attack. That conversation gave her hope she could do the same, she said.

Hamilton, who won her first surfing competition at age 8, said she always has been a fierce competitor. She said that spirit helped her to return to competition after losing her arm.

“I just put my head down and went real hard in my sport,” she recalled.

Amid her surfing success, Hamilton found time to write an autobiography, “Soul Surfer.” In 2011, her book was made into a movie by the same name. She also launched her own foundation, Friends of Bethany, which supports shark-attack survivors and traumatic amputees.

“It is amazing to see all the good that has come out of this and to be a reminder of hope to others,” she said.

General admission tickets for “An Evening with Bethany Hamilton” are $10. They can be purchased at the Show Me Center box office or online at showmecenter.biz. Admission is free for Southeast faculty, staff and students.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, 1333 N. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.