Young surfer
who lost arm could
go home within a day
LIHUE >> Bethany Hamilton, the top young amateur surfer who lost her arm to a shark last week off Kauai's North Shore, might be released from the hospital today or tomorrow, relatives and friends said.
Wilcox Memorial Hospital gave no word on her condition yesterday. On Tuesday, according to the hospital, Bethany, 13, was able to walk the halls and visited a blind man and a girl with a cancerous tumor.
On Friday a tiger shark, estimated to be 14 feet long, bit off Bethany's left arm four inches below the shoulder as she paddled out toward a wave off Makua Beach, also known as Tunnels Beach.
Her doctor has said that she will be able to surf again, and her family is sure she will compete. Her major sponsor, Rip Curl, has set up a Nov. 15 fund-raiser for her on Kauai.
The Hamilton family and their friends have been buried with media inquiries. They have granted only one interview, although her brothers Tim, 17, and Noah were interviewed on national television. Bethany's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Rovinsky, was interviewed by the New York Times and appeared on national television.
Wilcox Memorial Hospital has served as Bethany's link to the media. A family friend, Roy Hofstetter, is serving as the family's spokesman.
On Monday, Bethany's brothers put up a Web site for her at www.bethanyhamilton.com. There is no accurate count of the number of e-mail messages she has received, but the family said it is in the "tens of thousands."
The Web site includes a message board. While most notes are from people around the world who do not know her, many are from friends and acquaintances. (The board is currently down due to an attack by spammers, the site says.)
Holt Blanchard, father of Bethany's best friend and surfing buddy, Alana, is credited with saving Bethany's life by using a surfboard lanyard as a tourniquet. Blanchard gave his assessment of Bethany in a post Tuesday:
"The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about Bethany's personality is that she is very sure of herself for a 13-year-old, and she is not afraid to speak her mind. Believe me, I know. She is a leader and doesn't have trouble making decisions, especially when it comes to choosing the right waves in a heat. She always gets the best wave of the set!
"You can tell she is calculating her every move, and not just in the water. She also has pulled some pretty good pranks on me, one in particular I can't put on this message board."
A Kauai friend, Danielle Davis, wrote: "I met Bethany in junior lifeguarding over the summer, and I must say she is someone you will never forget! She is the strongest person I have ever met. She makes me want to charge large, stand up for myself and become an overall better person. I can't believe how strong she is, going through what she's been through. I don't know anyone who would be able to handle it like Bethany."
Bethany was considered a shoo-in for a professional surfing career.
