Shark attack victim: I want to 'go home and surf'
 |
Story Tools
|
NEW YORK (CNN) -- 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton was surfing in Hawaii on October 31 when she was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark, losing her left arm about four inches below the shoulder. Less than a month later, she hit the waves again. CNN anchor Anderson Cooper spoke to her about her recovery.
COOPER: What was it like getting back in the water?
HAMILTON: It was like, such a great experience because I've been looking forward to it the whole time in the hospital. I was getting really anxious.
COOPER: When they took your stitches out, were you like, I'm going back in the water right now?
HAMILTON: I wanted to, but then he was like, oh, you can't go out until this day, and I started counting because I couldn't go out forever. And everybody was crying also because of the painful stitches.
COOPER: But you basically took like a week from the time you got the stitches out. Now, you are surfing with a long board.
HAMILTON: Yeah.
COOPER: What is it like trying to paddle now?
HAMILTON: It's harder, but it's probably not as hard on the long board as the short board.
COOPER: A friend of your family's got you a [skate] board. What's that like? If I tried that, I think I'd break my back.
HAMILTON: I guess it's just to help you with your surfing balance.
COOPER: Were you worried about getting back in the water? You were attacked by a shark and basically about a month later or so, you are back in the water. When you first hit the water again, did you think, maybe this isn't a good idea?
HAMILTON: No, I wasn't too worried.
COOPER: No fears about going back?
HAMILTON: Not really.
COOPER: The day it happened, October 31, it was like 7:30 in the morning. You were out with a friend of yours, a couple of other friends, their parents. Did you know what was happening? Did you see the shark in advance?
HAMILTON: No, I didn't see the shark in advance, but as soon as it happened, I knew what happened, and all that went through my head was to go for the beach.
COOPER: And you were surfing with a friend of yours. You went to her father, I guess, and he sort of brought you onto shore.
HAMILTON: Yeah, hauled.
COOPER: And then, they actually used part of the surfboard, the leash on a surfboard, to make a tourniquet?
HAMILTON: Yeah. That was definitely a life-saver. The doctor said that.
COOPER: I also understand that you woke up, you were on the beach, and a paramedic whispered something in your ear?
HAMILTON: He's like, God will never leave you or forsake you.
COOPER: That's interesting. What do you want to do now? You are a champion surfer, [you were] on the cover of magazines and stuff before this happened. You want to just keep going with that, don't you?
HAMILTON: You know what? What I really want to do is go home and surf.
COOPER: You want to get out of here right now and go home and surf, don't you?
HAMILTON: Yeah.
