Review of Soul Surfer (2011) by Scottie T — 29 Apr 2015

In 2003, teenager Bethany Hamilton lives in Kauai, Hawaii with her parents Tom and Cheri, and two brothers, Noah and Timmy. All are surfers, but she and her best friend Alana Blanchard have grown up with a passion for the sport and enter a competition. Her church youth ministry leader, Sarah Hill, is disappointed when she has to withdraw from a planned mission trip to Mexico because of the contest.

In the competition, Bethany and Alana place first and third, respectively. The following day, Tom goes to the hospital for knee surgery, and the girls go surfing with Alana's father Holt and brother Byron. As Bethany dangles her left arm in the water, a tiger shark is swimming just under her surfboard and notices her arm floating in the water. It unexpectedly attacks, ripping off her arm below the shoulder. Holt, Alana, and Byron get her out of the water where Holt makes a tourniquet out of his swimshirt to put on her while Byron calls 911 as Cheri is also informed. An ambulance meets them on the way to the hospital. Just before starting Tom's knee surgery, Dr. David Rovinsky is called to the emergency room to treat Bethany. Besides losing her left arm, she also lost 60% of her blood and Dr. Rovinsky calls her survival a miracle.

The onslaught of paparazzi also proves to be a great strain on her family and their privacy. The Hamiltons are grateful to Holt for his quick and active thinking and decisive action that saved her life. Her injury prevents her participating in the Rip Curl photo shoots, but she wishes Alana well.