Bethany Hamilton (character)

Bethany Hamilton is the protagonist and main character of the Soul Surfer movie. The character is based on the real

-life surfer Bethany Hamilton, as depicted in her autobiography Soul Surfer. Bethany is played by actress AnnaSophia Robb in the movie.

History

While out surfing, Bethany hears her brother Noah calling to her that church has already started. Bethany gets out of the water and slips on a dress and joins her family at the service. Far from being angry with Bethany, her parents ask her how she enjoyed the surf. In the next scene, Bethany, Noah, and Timmy head out to beach in front on their house to watch a surfing competition between their mom and dad. To irk her, the children vastly underscore her performance while giving 9s and 10s to their father. When the couple returns to the beach, the entire family engages in some playful throwing of wet sand at each other.

At the Turtle Bay Resort Invitational, Alana and Bethany run into their friend Keoki before their heat starts. He invites them to go night surfing on Thursday, and Bethany gives him a playful yes. When her heat starts, Bethany claims that rival surfer Malina stole Bethany's wave, as she felt she had position. However, in the final heat, Bethany manages to beat Malina to a wave and carves out a high-scoring ride that puts her in first place. At the awards ceremony, Bethany invites third-place winner Alana and second-place finisher Malina up onto the winner's podium, but Malina rese

When Bethany and Alana discover that surfing apparel company Rip Curl wants to sponsor them, they head out to the nearest beachfront store to purchase some swimwear at the company's expense. At one store, the girls encounter Malina, who smack talks that she's going to beat Bethany the next time around. Bethany replies confidently, "Let's just let the surfing do the talking." Later, at a church youth group meeting, youth leader Sarah Hill makes a presentation on how our perspectives dictate how we deal with the difficult situations that happen to us. After the presentation, Bethany offers a box of supplies for Sarah to take to the missions trip to Mexico. Bethany explains that now that she has a sponsor, she needs to stay home and train for her next surfing competition. Sarah accepts the supplies box but is disappointed that Bethany isn't coming on the missions trip.

The evening before Halloween, Alana and Bethany decide to sneak out to go night surfing and attend a beach party. The next morning, Cheri Hamilton slyly indicates that she knew the girls snuck out the night before, and Bethany apologizes. Alana and Bethany catch a ride with Alana's father Holt and brother Byron to the beach.

During a lull in the surfing action, Alana and Bethany lie on their surfboards and chat about clothes. To everyone's extreme horror, a shark attacks Bethany by biting off the arm she had been dangling in the water just minutes before. Holt, Byron, and Alana surround Bethany, who is bleeding profusely into the water, as they all paddle frantically towards the shore. Holt removes his rash guard to wrap around the stump of Bethany's arm and orders Byron to call 911. Holt, Byron, and Alana use a surfboard to transport Bethany to the Blanchards' truck. As they are speeding down the highway, Holt sees the ambulance coming and pulls over so the paramedics can transfer Bethany to the emergency vehicle.

When Bethany wakes up after her surgery to find her entire family in her room, she complains of pain in her arm, so her brothers leave to find Dr. Rovinsky. Meanwhile, Holt shows up to visit Bethany and explains that Alana is still too tramautized over the attack to see Bethany. When the doctor shows up, he encourages Bethany, telling her that while she will have to re-learn many of her everyday skills, there is very little she can't do with only one arm. Later, in a conversation with her father in the hospital room, Bethany indicates her desire to return to surfing, and her father reminds her that she can do all things through Christ, who gives her strength.

Bethany is very happy when Alana comes to visit her in the hospital room one afternoon. Even though she can't join her, Bethany insists that Alana go through with the photo shoot with the Rip Curl company. When Cheri drives Bethany home after she's been released from the hospital, they discover that a gaggle of paparazzi have been camping out in front of the Hamilton property. Tom runs out from the house and jumps in the van, taking the wheel and driving the van around to the back of the house. Over dinner, Tom mentions that the people at the TV show Inside Edition want to do an interview with Bethany in exchange for a prosthetic arm. Excited that having a prosthetic arm may help her surf again, Bethany agrees to do the interview.

Seeking spiritual guidance, Bethany visits Sarah Hill, who has just returned from the missions trip to Mexico, at Calvary Chapel Fellowship. Bethany tearfully confesses that she doesn't understand how the shark attack and the loss of her arm could be part of God's plan for her life. Sarah replies that even though they may not see it now, God will bring something good out of this tragedy.

Showing up for Alana's photo shoot with the Rip Curl photographers ignites a fierce desire in Bethany to return to the water. The day before Thanksgiving, Bethany informs her family that she'd like to go surfing again. While her brother Noah's captures the moment on film, Alana, Timmy, Cheri, and Tom join Bethany in the water and, despite several false starts, she eventually is able to get back on her board.

Bethany is very disappointed when the Inside Edition people show up and offer her the prosthetic arm because it is not weight-bearing and, thus, completely useless as a surfing aid. Bethany runs up to her room and rips off the arm of one of her Barbie dolls. She tells her mother she's worried that no guy will ever like her with one arm, and Cheri pulls up an image of the Venus de Milo on the computer to show Bethany that she can be beautiful without any arms at all.

At the Hawaiian island regionals competition, the judges, in the hearing of her rival Malina Birch, offer Bethany a five-minute head start, but she refuses the handicap. Once in the water, Malina beats Bethany to a wave and carves out a high-scoring ride. When Malina tries to steal a wave from Bethany a second time, Alana cuts her off and is disqualified from the competition for interference. Later in the heat, Bethany gets caught in the impact zone to the point that the pounding surf breaks her board in two. After being towed to the shore, Bethany removes her rash guard and allows the surrounding paparazzi to take pictures of her stump. Determined to give up surfing forever, Bethany gives away three of her surfboards to some young fans who had requested an autograph.

Unsure what to do with the rest of her life now that she's given up on surfing, Bethany decides to join Sarah Hill's mission trip to Phuket, Thailand, the site of a devastating tsunami. While handing out bottles of clean water to the tsunami's victims, Bethany notices that no one is out in the water surfing. After managing to coax a traumatized little boy back into the water, Bethany notices that the rest of the people on the beach are joining them in the water. Cheered up from her experience in Phuket, Bethany returns to Kauai, determined to become a professional surfer.

When Bethany tells her father that she has decided to return to surfing, Tom presents her with a custom-designed surfboard fitted with a small rope handle that will allow Bethany to duck dive under large waves without getting pounded. At the Rip Curl National Championships, Bethany thanks Malina for never taking it easy on her and for always treating her like real competition.

Bethany, Alana, and Malina all manage to make it to the Nationals final round. With only five minutes of competition left and in fifth place, Bethany paddles out to take the next wave, but Malina does her best to try to prevent her from catching it. Duck diving under Malina, Bethany catches the wave and carves out a fantastic 9.7 for her ride.

Due to some bad luck, Bethany's final wave is disqualified because the judges deem that she stood up after the final horn had sounded, giving Malina Birch the win. Livid at the judge's decision, Tom can't believe that that last wave didn't count; however, Bethany smiles at Tom and assures him that the wave did count in her eyes. In a touching moment, Malina invites Bethany to share her place on the winner's podium and announces to the crowd, "I would like to share this win with Bethany Hamilton because the judges may not have counted that last wave, but I did."

Surrounded by reporters after the competition is over, Bethany is asked if had to do it all over again, would she have gone surfing that Halloween morning she lost her arm. In what is likely the climax of the movie, Bethany says she wouldn't change anything that's happened to her because she's had the chance to embrace more people with one arm more than she ever could have done with two, referring to her opportunity to share Christ with a world curious about her disability.