Has NE1 heard about this? I dunno if it's already been posted, but it's really sad. I just read it on the net, but I can't find the article so I'm just gonna "summarize" it.

So on Friday there was this 13 year old girl in Hawaii, who is like, one of the best surfers in her age division, she's won all these prizes and NEwayz she was out surfing with like her friend and her friends dad (there coulda been more ppl *shrugs* who knows?). It was really calm out so they were just sitting around talking. They were like over by coral, and the friend and the dad weren't even paying attention and a huge shark (supposedly a 15-16 foot tiger shark) just came out of the water and bit off her arm just below her left shoulder and took a huge chunk outta the board. No one even saw anything it happened so fast, they didn't even notice. So, then the girl who got bitten, I think her name's Bethany, was in shock and was like, "I just got attacked by a shark" and she started swimming into shore. So the dad made a tourniquet for her and all, and I'm pretty sure she's ok, but I think that is just so sad. I feel so bad for her. She'll never be as good as a surfer as she once was, and even worse, I read that she was left-handed, I hope she's pretty good with her right hand. But NEwayz, I'm really glad she's at least alive. Has NE1 else heard this story?

I haven't heard anything on this story. That is awful.. and scary as hell. Very happy that she's safe and alive, but I'm sorry she lost that arm.

Yeah, I read about it in the newspaper.

Teen surfer loses arm in shark attack

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- A shark bit off the left arm of a 13-year-old competitive surfer Friday morning while she was lying on her board in clear water, authorities said.

Bethany Hamilton was attacked on Kauai's North Shore, authorities said. There was a single bite, and then the shark disappeared.

"There was no warning," said Battalion Chief Bob Kaden.

The teenager was surfing with her best friend and her friend's father, who immediately applied a tourniquet using a surf leash. Hamilton's mother, Cheri, said the move saved her life.

Tom Hamilton said his daughter was conscious and alert at a hospital.

The size of the bite was estimated to be 16 inches long and 8 inches wide, which suggests Bethany Hamilton was attacked by a shark that was 12 to 15 feet long, Kaden said.

It was the fourth shark attack this year. Randy Honebrink, spokesman for the state Shark Task Force, said Hawaii averages three or four attacks annually.

Hamilton already has secured sponsorships and is expected to go pro, according to the Hanalei Surf Online Web site.

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/US/West/11/01/shark.attack.ap/story.shark.attack.ap.jpg

Teen surfer describes shark attack

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- The water was clear and there was no indication of danger when a 13-year-old surfing star went out on the waves with her best friend and her friend's father.

But while Bethany Hamilton was lying on her board off Kauai's North Shore, a shark bit once and then disappeared, taking off her left arm just below the shoulder.

"Nobody saw it happen. She just yelled, 'A shark bit me!"' said her father, Tom Hamilton.

Bethany Hamilton, who remained in stable condition after the attack Friday morning, talked of the attack Saturday.

"My arm was hanging in the water, and it just came and bit me," Hamilton told Honolulu television station KGMB.

She said the shark pulled her back and forth, "but I just held on my board, and then it let go."

Doctors at Wilcox Memorial Hospital said Bethany's top condition as a competitive athlete helped her survive the attack.

"It was a very clean amputation," Dr. David Rovinsky said.

Hamilton's background in competitive surfing helped her survive, he said.

"This is a woman who is a highly trained athlete, and because of that she's able to handle a huge blood loss really well," Rovinsky said.

She was preparing for a second surgery Monday, her father said.

Bethany, of Princeville, was attacked in an area known as Tunnels, a quarter-mile off Makua Beach near Haena.

Bethany was surfing with best friend Alana Blanchard, also 13, and Alana's father, Holt Blanchard, her family said.

Holt Blanchard immediately applied a tourniquet to Hamilton's arm using a surfboard leash, the family said.

After the attack, lifeguards went out on personal watercraft to warn people about the shark, said Cyndi Ozaki, spokeswoman for Kauai County. County officials also closed the area between Ke'e and Wainiha beaches.

"The water was crystal clear according to people in the area, and there was no indication that there was a shark nearby," she said.

Neither the injury nor the beach closure deterred dozens of people from surfing Saturday in the waters where the attack took place.

"To not surf would be like taking away your breath," said Jill Schwed, 36, a Kilauea masseuse.

The beaches were officially reopened Saturday afternoon, after officials flew over the area and saw no evidence of other sharks.

The shark took a chunk out of Bethany's surfboard that measured about 16 inches across and 8 inches deep, penetrating nearly to the center of the board, which suggests the shark was 12 to 15 feet long, Kauai fire Battalion Chief Bob Kaden said. It may have been a tiger shark, said Randy Honebrink, spokesman for the state Shark Task Force.

Bethany is a competitive surfer who already had secured sponsorships and was expected to go pro, according to the Hanalei Surf Online Web site.

In August, she won the explorer women's division of the National Scholastic Surfing Association's Open and Explorer event on Kauai. In May, she won the women's division at the Local Motion-Ezekiel Surf Into Summer contest at Ala Moana on Oahu, beating out older surfers.

"She is probably the best young surfer I have ever seen," said Bobo Bollin, who works at the Hanalei Surf Company, which sponsors a surf team that includes Bethany. "She was going to be the women's world champion and I think she still will be."

Many said they expected Bethany to ride the waves again, but her father wasn't so sure.

"She's back and forth," Tom Hamilton said.

The shark attack was Hawaii's fourth this year. Honebrink said Hawaii averages three or four shark attacks a year. Hawaii's last shark attack this year was October 5, when a woman was bitten while swimming near Kihei on Maui, Honebrink said.

Teen surfer undergoes second surgery after shark attack

LIHUE, Hawaii (AP) -- The 13-year-old surfing star who lost her left arm in a shark attack last week off Kauai was in stable condition Monday night after a second surgery.

The surgery to close and clean Bethany Hamilton's wound was successful and the girl may be able to return to her Princeville home this week, according to Lani Yukimura, the spokeswoman for Wilcox Memorial Hospital.

Hamilton was attacked Friday a quarter-mile off Makua Beach near Haena. Her arm, bit off near the shoulder, was not recovered and officials said the shark has not been spotted again.

State wildlife experts estimated the tiger shark to be around 14 feet long, based on the massive chunk taken out of Bethany's surf board.

Bethany was a competitive surfer who already had secured sponsorships and was expected to go pro, according to the Hanalei Surf Online Web site.

The shark attack was Hawaii's fourth this year. The last shark attack was October 5, when a woman was bitten while swimming near Kihei on Maui, officials said.

That's awful what happened to her. :(

oh thats awful! I hate sharks! I remember last year, when in Florida like 20 people got attacked by sharks, i went to the beach one day, and just freaked when i was in the water. I ended up not staying so long lol

Sorry for bumping up a 2½ month old thread, but I was looking through the old threads and just remembered I saw something about this in my February issue of YM. They did a story on that same girl that got bitten by a shark...She says she's doing MUCH better now, and fortunately, she is right-handed, so she doesn't have to relearn EVERYTHING.

Check this story out in the YM mag -- it has Mandy Moore on the cover.

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
Sorry for bumping up a 2½ month old thread, but I was looking through the old threads and just remembered I saw something about this in my February issue of YM. They did a story on that same girl that got bitten by a shark...She says she's doing MUCH better now, and fortunately, she is right-handed, so she doesn't have to relearn EVERYTHING.

Check this story out in the YM mag -- it has Mandy Moore on the cover.

Yup, I get YM so I saw that, too.

From what I have read in PEOPLE and other mag's she's surfing again

That's awful!

A 14 year old girl here in my town owns exotic animals like (4) tigers, a monkey, and other animals like that. She was bit on the cheek Saturday by the tiger while photographing them. Her parents chose to put all of the tigers down. She was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center by car, so maybe it wasn't that serious. If you believe in prayer, please pray for her. She wasn't actually one of my friends, but I do know her.

DLQSfan

She was on Ellen's show a few months ago.

Yea I read that in a magizine at school that one of my teachers made me reAD :mad:

Originally posted by I Love Carol Burnett!
Yea I read that in a magizine at school that one of my teachers made me reAD :mad:

Damn those teachers for making a student read...

:cool:

Originally posted by Nanny Fine
Damn those teachers for making a student read...

:cool:

:lol:

I don't want to sound rude or anything but is this girl a little... "slow"?

She was on "Ellen," and "Good Day Live" and she can barely carry a conversation, she only answers with "yes," "no," "oh," "i dunno," "maybe," and "um." Plus it seems like she has a very hard time moving her jaw, she mumbles alot.

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
I don't want to sound rude or anything but is this girl a little, "slow"?

She was on "Ellen," and "Good Day Live" and she can barely carry a conversation, she only answers with "yes," "no," "oh," "i dunno," "maybe," and "um." Plus it seems like she has a very hard time moving her jaw, she mumbles alot.

Which little girl??

Originally posted by DLQSfan
Which little girl??

The surfer one.

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
I don't want to sound rude or anything but is this girl a little... "slow"?

She was on "Ellen," and "Good Day Live" and she can barely carry a conversation, she only answers with "yes," "no," "oh," "i dunno," "maybe," and "um." Plus it seems like she has a very hard time moving her jaw, she mumbles alot.

She's only 13. I don't know but many kids that age are a little awkward anyhow and she may no be very comfortable with the attention she gets. Plus I wouldn't be able to talk myself if I were sitting in front of Ellen since she's my favorite TV personality ever. I'd be a mumbling bumbling fool. :D

Originally posted by Nanny Fine
She's only 13.

LOL... that's not an excuse.

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
LOL... that's not an excuse.

well I work on a daily basis with kids from the ages of 3 to 18 - I'm an adult with my own child. It's feasible for me to think that it has to do with her age. So whatever.

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
The surfer one.


Thank you!

Originally posted by DLQSfan
Thank you!

No problem!

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
No problem!

After I posted that question, I thought to myself.... DUH!!!!!!
The girl I knew that was bit by the tiger wasn't on a t.v. show nor was she 13, she was fourteen.
Thanks again!

I love your avatar SBTB geek! where did you find it?

I saw her on MSNBC and she and her family are traveling the world and telling adventures on the shark attack and she was taken up some kind of skying without the use of her right arm in the snow.

Originally posted by Nanny Fine
Damn those teachers for making a student read...

:cool:

Yeah, damn them! By the time I was in 7th grade, I was reading at a 12th grade level. :D

Originally posted by SBTB Geek
I don't want to sound rude or anything but is this girl a little... "slow"?

She was on "Ellen," and "Good Day Live" and she can barely carry a conversation, she only answers with "yes," "no," "oh," "i dunno," "maybe," and "um." Plus it seems like she has a very hard time moving her jaw, she mumbles alot.

If I, just an ordinary everyday citizen, were to be on a nationally syndicated TV show with a very famous lady, I'd be talking like that. And I'm the same age as you. She just wasn't used to all the attention she was getting after the attack. Right after she got bit, she was all over national news...Tell me YOU wouldn't be nervous getting all that attention for the first time!

Originally posted by Miss Vicki
Yeah, damn them! By the time I was in 7th grade, I was reading at a 12th grade level. :D

One of my teachers has 11th grade books in her class and I'd smart mouth her and she'd say "Well Mr. Blanton since your so smart go read a page out of those books"

I went and read every word perfect . SHE GOT SO MAD!!!!!!!!:D

Originally posted by DLQSfan
That's awful!

A 14 year old girl here in my town owns exotic animals like (4) tigers, a monkey, and other animals like that. She was bit on the cheek Saturday by the tiger while photographing them. Her parents chose to put all of the tigers down. She was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center by car, so maybe it wasn't that serious. If you believe in prayer, please pray for her. She wasn't actually one of my friends, but I do know her.

DLQSfan They decided to put all the tigers down?! :cuss: WHY?!? Maybe they didnt know tigers are domesticated animals and are wild! :idea: Isnt the tigers fault the kid got bit.. its their fault for being dumb enough to own 4 of them as pets! They shouldnt make the tigers pay with their life... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mad:

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
They decided to put all the tigers down?! :cuss: WHY?!? Maybe they didnt know tigers are domesticated animals and are wild! :idea: Isnt the tigers fault the kid got bit.. its their fault for being dumb enough to own 4 of them as pets! They shouldnt make the tigers pay with their life... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :mad:

They are kind of a strange family...
I wouldn't have put all the tigers down.
I really like your avatar... (Notice I like a lot of people's avatars) Where did you get it?

Originally posted by DLQSfan
They are kind of a strange family...
I wouldn't have put all the tigers down.
I really like your avatar... (Notice I like a lot of people's avatars) Where did you get it? Thank you! Well.. I made it.. got the Clay pic waay back in April from a Clay site.:D

Originally posted by ¤MsConanOBrien¤
Thank you! Well.. I made it.. got the Clay pic waay back in April from a Clay site.:D

I haven't kept up with American Idol, but I have heard Clay sing and IMO he is GREAT... he doesn't look that bad either...

Do you know a site where I can find out more about him?

Originally posted by I Love Carol Burnett!
One of my teachers has 11th grade books in her class and I'd smart mouth her and she'd say "Well Mr. Blanton since your so smart go read a page out of those books"

I went and read every word perfect . SHE GOT SO MAD!!!!!!!!:D

:clap :clap :clap