Original subtitles

There's so many good waves,

I just want to surf 'em all.

♪♪

You were out surfing

and you were attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark.

Did you ever, ever for one moment,

think you wouldn't go back in the water?

Exciting news, Bethany Hamilton

gets the wild card.

This is the first time we've seen Bethany

on the Championship Tour.

The obvious question is why,

why get back on the board again?

The Climate Prediction Center

has issued an El Nino advisory.

This could be a hurricane season

for the record books.

Also looking more likely

with the latest forecast.

Surf's up and we're talking extreme.

A solid run of northwesterly swells

will charge Hawaii starting on the last day of 2015

and continuing right into the first several days

of the new year.

Hey, Bethany.

Hey, Kevin, I really want to tow Jaws.

It looks like there's a lot of swell on the horizon.

Yeah, this storm is kind of in that classic spot,

so this next one looks like maybe 50 foot Hawaiian,

so it looks good.

I think you always have some wave or experience in mind

that you're hoping to get.

You only actually get that experience or that wave

probably only a handful of times in your whole life.

But you're always chasing that.

And she has really high standards.

Jaws is one of the most iconic waves in the world.

And it's a wave I've always dreamed of surfing.

There's nothing else that I've ever seen

or experienced that even comes close to that wave.

And that's what draws us all there.

Year after year, swell after swell.

When she said she wanted to do Jaws,

I had no idea what she wanted to do.

Cool, Jaws, go for it.

Sounds fun.

That's radical.

I surfed out there two or three times,

that place is so scary.

Yeah, I don't think she needs to do that.

Oh, my gosh.

When you're in impact zone,

you seriously think you're gonna die.

The ocean, when it's at its biggest

and wildest states, there's really no other playing field

like it in any sport and that's what drives these people.

They want to push the boundaries of possibility.

We're tracking swells and we're just watching clips

of amazing waves and perfect conditions.

When we saw the perfect swell,

okay we got to go to Maui like tomorrow.

The anticipation was really kind of intense.

When you green light a project,

boom, everything has to go into play all the moving parts.

The boats, the skis, the people, everyone's flying in,

you got to make sure everything's set up right logistically.

It's calculated chaos.

I was working with DK and Shaun,

and they're like the top guys out there,

helping with safety on big gnarly days.

If someone tells you they're not scared out there,

then they're completely lying.

Everyone's scared, you're nervous, your level of stress

is through the roof, you're anxious.

You're trying to stay calm. You don't want to get

your heart rate up.

I'm like shaking trying to talk about it.

It starts to hit home, like we're going out there.

We're gonna go see this monster of a wave.

It was like a noise I'd never heard before

coming out of the bowel of the ocean.

It was like, whoa, this place is crazy.

It feels and sounds like an avalanche

when the waves break.

With the helicopters flying around

and the drones and the jet skis and the boats

and all of the stuff that's happening,

it just becomes so busy and there's so much energy.

And then these giant sets come through

and people are wiping out.

All this really radical stuff's happening,

it's like I don't think there's anywhere in the world

that's so intense.

Sup guys!

- Hey! It's firing. - Yeah?

It's kind of slow, but it's good.

- Yeah! - Let's go Bethany.

We'll go check it out up close.

Okay.

It's literally the most beautiful wave to see in person.

It's mesmerizing.

But like you almost don't want to watch it too long

because it's just such a big scary wave.

You decide to go out there, you decide to take that wave

and there's implications in that.

There's a ton of risk.

911, what's your emergency?

I heard a big scream over there at the west reef

like a fright scream.

And then this thing came out, I saw it coming

underneath the water, he turned about where my

wife is, about that far away

and you could see his tail.

We look over by West Reef

and they were all going in.

He goes fuck, someone got bit over there,

we heard screaming you know

and they all went in.

And we worked our way over slowly looking for it.

I went in to see her.

She was as white as a sheet of paper.

I mean she was like white from loss of blood

and I look down and her arm is gone and it blew my mind.

Heaviest moment of my life.

Just to see that.

It was pretty heavy, but I was so thankful she was alive.

Being her positive self she looks at me

and she goes, "Don't worry Dad, I'm gonna be okay."

You know?

One of the stories this morning was that you were

a sure bet to go professional.

That was pretty much my dream.

Yeah, it was really hard to try to figure out, you know,

what the future held.

Everything that we had been working toward as a family,

all the successes and a room full of trophies,

everything we just saw it all gone,

and, uh,

now what?

So did they tell you what's ahead for you from here?

I don't know.

My love for surfing started

on the North Shore of Kauai in Hanalei Bay.

My mom was queen of Hanalei.

She charged and had that passion for surfing bigger waves.

I'd see her surfing, she'd be out usually before I was.

I first noticed him because he

had a really nice Volkswagen van.

That caught my eye.

Everything was designed around taking care of the family

and having time to surf.

We were just so happy.

For us it was the ultimate dream

to be able to surf with your kids.

Bethany.

Wave to Daddy.

When she was six or seven, I would go out

and push her in the waves.

When she caught her first wave on her own,

it was a breaking point where she knew she could do it.

I just saw a natural ability she had.

There's Bethany, Bethany.

Surfing was just so much fun for her

that she just naturally got good at it.

I was pushing her and my brother was pushing her.

We were always out surfing together.

Here goes Noah.

He got barrel.

When our kids started surfing, we bought a new camera

and we filmed everything.

And you can rewind and watch what you just filmed.

We'd watch it and talk about it

and try to help her improve.

Pedal hard!

It was hard to stay afloat living out here in Hawaii,

so both my parents worked two to three jobs.

It was a lot on them.

The memory.

My mom delivered magazines around the island

which to me was like the best job ever

because I got to drive all around the island

and surf all different spots.

Okay, keep on going. Go up on the pier.

I built independence and confidence

having my parents trust me off on my own surfing.

I had confidence in my ability and

I felt like that internal drive.

By age eight, I knew I was gonna

be a professional surfer.

I can remember dreaming about all the most amazing waves

in the world and envisioning a map in my house

and putting the little pins on all the different locations

that I wanted to go to.

Watching all my surf heroes surfing those waves.

And just couldn't wait to do it myself.

Girls, girls, can I ask you a few questions?

Yeah sure.

What's your favorite place to surf?

- Uh, Pine Trees. - Yeah.

Where's that? Do you live around here?

Yeah, it's in Hanalei Bay, Kauai.

When I turned nine I met Bethany.

We literally drove everyone crazy, I think.

In the water, out of the water.

We were just rascals.

Her and Alana were so fun to hang out with.

Roll over.

They were just very adventurous.

We kind of did it all.

And, we were just very athletic.

They both signed up to swim training

under Dick Oliver.

Go, go, go, go, go!

There's Dick, his dream

is to take someone to the Olympics.

2:40, very good.

When they got back into the water, they were so fired up.

They could out-paddle adults.

Bethany was like the ringleader.

Whatever she was doing I just, like, had to keep up.

She was charging waves at the time.

I was just like, "Oh, my God. I guess I have to do that too."

But I hated it.

There was no stopping her.

She just liked that adrenaline.

There's my daughter right there.

Yeah!

Do you always surf, together?

Do you always surf together?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Friendship makes a big difference when you're surfing.

Yeah.

I was doing a surfing lesson down near the pier

and two little girls came out, did laps around me,

catching waves, and paddling like demons.

Bethany's dad asked if she could be on the team.

I put her on and then Alana wanted to be put on the team.

Alana!

Alana and Bethany, best friends,

so they fed off each other.

I would soak up everything Coach Russell would give us.

Run the beach, do drills together, and

I was just thriving in that environment.

Most people don't like running to the pier and back

and she'd turn around and say, "Can I run it twice?"

That's when I knew she was different.

Set the bar this high, she'd always double it.

Paddle hard bro!

All the contests growing up were beach start.

She's in blue.

Fifteen minutes, top three waves.

That beach start was like such a big deal.

You'd paddle as hard as you could just to prove

that you were the fastest paddler.

Bethany would enter our division two years younger than me

and would be the first person out.

There she goes.

I'd be second.

But she was always the first.

Good girl!

Yeah, I remember beating all the boys. It was fun.

That's the end of the heat.

Within the first year, she was winning pretty much

everything she went in.

She's a machine.

Bethany in first place!

It wasn't too much longer after that,

she got sponsored by Rip Curl.

Being on the Rip Curl Team is really awesome.

All the girls are nice.

It makes me try harder 'cause I wanna improve

and show them how good I'm doing.

I don't want to get kicked off, I want to stay

on the Rip Curl Team.

Our generation of girl surfers

was so strong, we came in kind of like a force.

The Hawaii boom of kids was starting

to really come alive.

These super heavyweight female up and comers.

In third place, Coco Ho.

In second place, Alana Blanchard.

And ladies and gentlemen our champion

in the ten to 12 year old girls' shortboard,

Bethany Hamilton, congratulations.

Bethany was the one to beat.

You know, and she, super competitive.

She had a really great connection with the ocean

and finding the right waves.

And then when she stood up on a board, she was flawless.

Smooth and powerful.

How fast she paddled and how aggressive she was

was really irritating to some of the girls

because she would've been just catching any wave she wanted

with those arms.

NSSA Nationals is the biggest event of the year

for any amateur in the United States.

It's really where all the scouts come

from every company to kind of scope people out.

You're really looking at that next caliber of surfers

who are right on the edge of turning pro.

Okay, here we go, rider up.

Here comes Bethany Hamilton. Oh nice!

And we're looking at her going, this kid,

you're something special.

Good scoring ride

for Bethany Hamilton from Hawaii.

What'd you get in your heat?

What do you think?

I was pretty sure that

there's nothing gonna stop Bethany

from becoming World Champ.

Are you concerned about sharks at all?

Yeah.

How do you deal with it?

Just pray.

Let's go, get out of the water!

I watched my friend's arm get bit off.

It definitely affected me.

After surviving a shark attack,

she's in the hospital tonight, she's in pretty rough shape.

Critical condition.

I would have nightmares and

to this day I'm scared of sharks.

I'm glad it was me and no one else out there.

Why's that?

I'd just rather have it be me than Alana.

'Cause I love her so much.

I didn't know what was gonna happen with my life

because my best friend's life is changed.

So I thought mine was gonna change forever too.

Did you go to the beach yet?

- Yeah. - Did you surf?

My dad made me.

'Cause he said I have to get like the therapist guy,

he's like you have to get back to your normal life.

- So I had to go surfing. - Alana.

I thought I saw a shark,

and I started crying.

Where'd you go out at?

But it was just a huge turtle.

Officials pulled everybody out of the water

and closed down the section of the beach

just for safety's sake.

I didn't surf tunnels for a long time after that happened.

'Cause I was really scared, you know?

This was not a regular shark.

Officials described it as aggressive.

I told her, "Well, we could move to Mammoth.

Go snowboarding."

She goes, "No."

As supportive as, like, say my mom was,

she didn't see the possibility of me surfing with one arm.

So I also got attacked by a tiger shark.

Ended up in the same hospital as Bethany.

Those first few days, you just have so many questions.

Was it hard learning again or no?

How to surf?

The kind of thing you're just like--

Like whatever you were doing.

Not really, like, pretty much,

the things you do, that you never really think about doing,

the rest of your life it's adapting,

but it's actually kind of fun because you learn

how to figure out new ways of doing it.

- And nobody else. - And more of a challenge.

Yeah, yeah, and every,

it's pretty satisfying knowing that you can pull it off,

some people are full limbed can't even do it.

It just makes your mind stronger.

I surfed Hanalei this morning on a longboard,

I tried paddling with one arm, it's fully possible.

Oh, it is?

Fully possible, yeah.

And then you just have to do the one-hand pushup.

Watch, your arm's gonna get so buff and strong.

And you can stand up with your leg.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

You kind of want to go surfing already?

Yeah.

Yeah, I remember. Me too.

It's gonna be so much fun when you are on the first time

yeah, I'm telling you, it's,

it's pretty much the funnest day of surfing you'll ever have.

Within six days of losing my arm,

I already had hopes to surf with one arm.

You know, I didn't know what that would even look like,

but I wanted to give it a go.

Everything doesn't happen at once.

It takes patience.

It's all these little pieces that you sort of build upon.

This part's hard.

And you start building on these little things

and learn how to adapt to make your body do these things.

Don't drop it.

I won't drop it.

You don't need to help me.

Oh!

You think you're gonna surf again?

I think?

I know I'm gonna surf again.

Did you pray?

Dear Lord,

keep me safe and everyone safe and

let my parents let me go out to where the real waves are

and then yeah... Just have fun.

Okay.

Let's do this.

Most had believed her hopes and dreams

for a superstar surfing career were gone,

but Bethany was back on her board four weeks later.

Did you ever, ever for one moment

think you wouldn't go back in the water?

Um, I think it went through my head once or twice,

but once things came clear in my mind,

I knew I'd be back out there.

You got clear really quickly, didn't you?

Yeah.

I told my dad, I want to do a surf contest, let's do this.

And my dad's like, "Yeah, let's do this."

I was all for it.

Half of the struggle of surfing with one arm

was just getting through the surf

to be able to go and catch waves.

I just couldn't even get out because I couldn't duck dive.

Just waves crashing on me over and over again.

She was just getting really beat up

and I was getting beat up watching it.

That's when I realized, she couldn't hold on

to her board and that's where I came up

with the idea for the handle.

This is the secret to Bethany's handle,

there are leash plugs that go on the deck of the board,

but we use them as an adaptation to make her a handle

so she can duck dive.

So Bethany can get under the white water

or under a set wave that's coming at her

and come up the back.

There's word on the street, Bethany's coming to nationals.

When she announced she was coming back to compete,

we were all jaw-dropped.

I think we all supported her in a way

that we didn't think she was gonna come back.

You know, we were all like, "Hey Bethany, we're here for you,

you don't have to keep going, you don't have to do this."

I wanted to get back to normal life and normal routine,

so I had Ben Aipa coach me. Come up with a strategy.

When she had the accident,

I thought the feeling she had for surfing,

is not gonna be the same.

There's gonna be fear in it.

But no way man.

Carissa definitely dominated nationals,

I don't think any of us had a chance at Lowers.

They were such a competitive group

and I think she was driven by that.

We're down at the waterline.

Okay, we talking, I just look up,

and I look at the people, and they look so confused, man.

The biggest question was what's she doing?

And I just told her, turn around, just turn around

and look back. I'd like you to see something, okay?

So she turn around, she look at the people.

When you going in the water, just catching the wave,

you're gonna throw them off.

And I just told her, "Just give them something to see."

The moment she paddled out,

everybody on the beach, was just spellbound.

Nobody could fathom, like, paddling out with one arm

and even just catching a wave with one arm

and getting up. Nobody thought it was possible.

So for all of us, it was just like this,

you're literally watching, like, a science experiment.

Alright, taking off on a good looking left.

Orange, Bethany Hamilton big snap up top on a sandy one.

That was a good wave, that was like a 6.5.

Good job, Bethany.

Carissa got knocked out in the semis.

But in the finals, there was still

some really good competition.

Bethany Hamilton.

Cuts back.

She just teed off. Just, boom.

Boom.

Boom.

It was just surreal like,

everybody on the beach was losing their mind.

She just tore that heat apart

and just obliterated her competition.

How does it feel to be a winner?

- Uh, I don't know. - Yes, you do.

Awesome.

Indescribable.

From the Hawaii Conference, Bethany Hamilton.

Well, first of all I have to give thanks to Jesus Christ

'cause he's like my everything.

Without him I don't think I could be here right now,

and I want to thank my coach Ben Aipa and

also, I want to thank all you girls

for like making the competition funner and harder

and especially Carissa.

I guess thanks.

After winning nationals, my ambition was to qualify

for the World Tour.

We were gonna qualify together.

That was our dream.

Qualifying for the World Tour is one

of the toughest needles to thread.

You're talking about going to all these different countries,

competing in all these different variety of waves.

They call it the grind.

There's a lot of girls who want it

and will do anything it takes to get it.

♪♪

♪♪

It was daunting.

Daunting looking at the conditions

and just looking for opportunity to advance

through your heat.

The tour is not designed for people who paddle slow

and you've got to be aggressive.

It was a lot of beach break,

where, like duck diving

nonstop and especially with one arm, it was so hard

to just get through to the line up.

It's hard to go and do that for eight contests in a row

and six heats in a row if you want to win the contest,

it's so mentally exhausting.

Bethany Hamilton made headlines

around the world when she was attacked

by a 14-foot tiger shark.

She had a lot of attention around her.

From a young age, she started doing all this media.

A teenage surfer who survived a shark attack

threw out the first pitch before tonight's Yankees game.

Come on out Bethany, yeah.

She had so many obligations.

I could see her life changing.

I'm very proud to present

this Teen Choice Courage Award to Bethany Hamilton.

Thank you.

Well, you've written a wonderful book,

it's called Soul Surfer, this is a story for all of us,

because we all have challenges and struggles in our lives.

Bethany Hamilton, one courageous athlete

pitching in to help children affected by Hurricane Katrina.

You were in Thailand recently.

The kids were really scared of the ocean from the Tsunami,

just trying to help them out.

You're going to the hospital to see

the wounded Iraqi soldiers.

This is an opportunity to, like, be a light

and be a role model and she saw that,

but she's still just a kid herself.

She's not ready for this.

It's been a whirlwind of a life for you,

awards shows, hanging out with celebrities,

you like it, it's fun, right?

Yeah, it is.

It took a toll on Bethany.

She didn't like getting asked the same question.

Why did the shark get off your arm?

Uh...

Well, I don't know.

I think the obvious question

for a lot of people is why.

Why get back on that board again?

What went through your mind

when all of that took place?

I don't know.

To be on tour, you really have to focus on one thing.

Oh, shoot.

And she had too many things going on.

It was the end of the year

and we both were on the cusp of qualifying or not.

Alana Blanchard in yellow,

you're now in 3rd place.

Me and Bethany ended up in the same heat

and it was like really a weird feeling.

In yellow Alana Blanchard.

She caught a wave, like, underneath me,

not being aggressive enough to keep her off the wave.

She could get some points on this wave.

Oh, come on Bethany. Get a wave.

In five, four, three...

Shit.

...two, one.

I ended up winning

and she ended up losing in that heat.

I just was like, this isn't how it's supposed to go.

I missed qualifying by one heat

and it was just the worst feeling ever.

You worked so hard, ever since you were eight-years-old

and then you work so hard with one arm

and it's one heat away.

It's amazing that we could still keep our friendship,

but we definitely had to go in different paths.

I just got so burnt out on losing

and lost that belief in myself.

I was seeing a lot of my good friends qualifying

and then winning world titles

and me just kind of getting left behind.

I can't help but imagine, what I could've accomplished

if I hadn't lost my arm.

Joining me now is Bethany Hamilton,

her incredible story is told in the new movie Soul Surfer.

Bethany what a pleasure to have you here.

I was going on media tours and speaking events

and my focus was shifting.

I also had a lot of financial obligations

to make sure I was making enough money

to keep things afloat.

Surfing wasn't really enough to hold that up.

I was asking God to help me through that time.

It was unclear how my future would be.

When my son, Timmy got married,

I see this really big handsome guy,

walking with my mother-in-law, helping her sit down,

pulling out her chair and wow, who's this guy?

I didn't even know she had a relationship going.

Any guy that's interested in Bethany,

I'm gonna really vet him.

Your natural instinct is you want

to give this guy the vibe

and kind of have your guard up as a big brother.

It was hard, you know, I let it all go.

I was like, this guy's awesome.

She wanted to get married

and I was like, "But you guys didn't even like

hang out that much yet."

And she's like, "No, I already know."

Nine months after we met,

we started talking about marriage.

So it was going fast.

Let him have it!

I thought I knew what I wanted, until I met Adam.

Will you Adam have Bethany to be your wife?

I will.

Will you love her, comfort her,

honor and respect her, and forsake all others

for her alone, all the days of your life?

I will.

I knew my life would be a completely different

than what I was doing before our marriage.

We're jumping on the Bethany bandwagon train,

and we're going all in.

How's Bethany doing today? I'd say she's rockin' it.

We caught up with her and her new husband.

Today, I'm telling the story of a sun-dried tomato.

And life's all about the unexpected.

Next up is going to be Bethany Hamilton,

now she's got a lot of fans here.

I've never done any acting really,

so it's kind of been fun.

I'm actually really enjoying it.

Bethany Hamilton made an appearance in Encinitas tonight

when a huge crowd of fans was there to greet her.

The wait was unbelievable, but a determined

few hundred met their hero.

I've wanted to meet her for a long time now,

and I want to be a pro surfer when I get older.

Bethany Hamilton stopped by

the Ron Jon Surf Shop to meet fans and sign autographs.

She just makes everybody inspired

and want to go out there and surf.

She never gave up.

When we submit our lives to Christ,

his mercy and love will bring true fulfillment to our lives.

I never realized how big a deal Bethany was.

Random people would come up, they just wanted a picture

and pretty cool that she can be that role model

to somebody. Not only little girls,

but these tough looking guys with beards.

Felt like I had a lot on my plate

and just so much on my shoulders alone

and then when we came together as husband and wife,

we became a team.

You recently got married,

tell us about your husband.

He's from Kansas.

But he's surfing great for a Kansas boy.

We were just ready to conquer things together.

Yeah.

I hope this challenge is doable.

Nice, nice.

Good job, baby.

Whoa.

Holla.

We started talking about

what was our future gonna look like

and what are the things that we are passionate about.

Let's pursue those.

I love being in the ocean,

it's for sure my happy place and he knew

that I still had unfulfilled goals

that I wanted to check off with my surfing.

I want to support her and I want to be there for her.

A professional surfing career doesn't last forever,

so, yeah, let's do this thing.

We, as surfer's, dream of surfing

these different iconic waves around the world.

I just love the idea of pushing myself

in all different types of waves

and being a well-rounded surfer.

In surfing there's many skill-sets.

To be really good

at every skill-set

is basically the upper echelon

of the sport.

There's only a handful of men and even fewer women,

who are really pushing that envelope.

When it comes to accomplishing dreams and goals

I think, like, there's so many key ingredients.

Passion, drive, dedication, commitment,

and support from people around you.

Bethany reached out to me to really work

on her aerial game.

The technique of aerial surfing is one

of the most difficult things to learn

and doing it with one arm makes it even more difficult.

I'll put my hand in my pocket.

Okay.

You know what I mean, so I'm like...

Cruising.

You know what I mean, it's real.

You're not moving a lot.

When she's turning her head, she has to do it more

than the average person.

She's making up for that with her head and her other arm.

A lip line right there.

That's alright.

I was able to just picture what I wanted to do

on a wave, but like do it over and over and over again.

Nice.

Much better.

The most important thing for us

is to find a wave where you actually have enough speed

and power and--

Yeah.

Bali's a great place to go to do airs.

Over the past couple days,

local wind looks generally favorable through the region

and we should see a couple days of pretty epic surf.

We'll see you out in the water.

It takes that certain thing

of understanding you have a potential

and knowing that potential inside you.

And wanting to fulfill it to its maximum.

Most people who are like that are really hard on themselves.

So annoying.

I can see that stress on her.

I can feel her just like wanting to succeed

and wanting to, like, perform super well.

It's just been kind of rough to be honest.

I haven't really done what I believe I can do

and it feels really eggy.

It takes a lot of determination,

strength and willpower

to let go and be patient with yourself

and go through a hundred failures

to get that one success.

She sent me a text of her doing this sick Air 360.

I knew she was very driven and motivated to do it,

but to text me a week later.

I was blown away.

That feeling of nailing the gnarliest thing

I've ever done felt so crazy good.

And just keep feeling that drive.

After a slow last few days

in the Southwest Pacific, things are starting

to roar back to life, we are monitoring

a strong storm system that is gonna develop

over the next couple days.

The real kicker with this storm system

is how close it's gonna be to Tahiti.

In the history of surfing,

Teahupoo has just been one of the benchmarks.

It's one of the only places on the planet

that every single wave will barrel.

I really wanted to challenge myself to get better

at my barrel riding.

When I was ten or 12 years old,

I remember very first seeing footage of Keala Kennelly

surfing Teahupoo and being so stoked on her

and wanting to emulate what she's doing

if not be better.

It is incredible to surf and incredible to watch,

but it has very, very severe consequences.

Seeing the wipe out highlights of Teahupoo,

I kind of had a grasp on what it looked like

and what it could do to people.

I need a transport.

When you see a wave freight-training down the reef,

it makes your stomach kind of turn just watching it.

It just has this unique ability

to just stop every single surfer in their tracks,

no matter how good they are

and just be mesmerized by what this wave

is capable of doing.

Adrenaline is going from head to toe,

just feeling, like, so excited.

Getting barreled-- It's like no other feeling.

The whole ocean is surrounding you.

I don't think you can explain it truly

until you're in there.

I was sitting in the channel on the boat

right over the peak of the wave

and seeing everything like right there.

Seeing Bethany, like, get on a wave--

You know I was, like, holding my breath.

Things weren't going well.

I think we're, like, trying to almost force

something good to happen.

Finally, I know it's a good one,

but I definitely let go of the rope too early.

There was so much energy

and wanting to score some waves.

We were just on it all the time.

I'm so close to one

of my favorite waves in the world...

and it's just not working out.

The best kind of barrel, you're not gonna make it.

You're just not gonna make it.

But you try anyway.

You're just like--

Whoo!

Yeah, Bethany!

Thank you!

That was sick.

Hey.

After that, I just felt so weak, like, so exhausted.

All of a sudden, I am an emotional wreck.

She had suspicions.

My period's super late.

No, you're not pregnant.

We got to put the suspicions behind us,

get the test,

it comes out positive.

Bethany did two other tests

and they all came out positive.

I just didn't feel ready to be a mom.

A few months after finding out she's pregnant,

she gets an invitation to surf

in this four women heat at Pipeline

with Carissa, Tyler Wright, and Steph Gilmore.

Aloha and welcome, everybody

to the island of Oahu.

Here we are at the Banzai Pipeline,

the most dangerous wave in the world.

Up next, the women in a specialty heat

will be competing against each other and nature.

She asked, what are the risks

of surfing Pipeline while pregnant.

And the risks are there.

A very special entrant

I think is Bethany Hamilton,

looking forward to seeing what she can do out here.

Oh, definitely, it's been a while

since I've seen Bethany Hamilton in the water.

She's gonna relish the opportunity

to come up against three of the very best.

Nobody knew that she was pregnant yet.

If you had like an eye for it, you could almost tell that,

yeah maybe she's showing, but you know maybe not.

I wanted to tell Carissa so bad

and I just didn't feel like I could tell her

because I wasn't telling anyone.

I didn't want to tell them crying.

I wanted to tell them with a smile.

This is one of the most treacherous and,

um, you know, one of the more waves of consequence

that we have in the world.

Wow, and here she goes,

Bethany Hamilton takes the first ride.

Oh.

I don't even know what I was thinking.

I had fears of not being able to surf as well

or even have the time to surf.

But I also had one arm fears of just changing his diaper

and holding his head stable enough

and being a good mom.

Look at this one now.

This is Bethany Hamilton, a late drop.

Oh.

And she, takes a fall.

I've always really looked forward

to being a mom one day.

That was, like, one of my greatest hopes in life.

But then when it finally came my way,

I was almost like rejecting that great hope

that I've always had.

I think it was a unique time for us

for her to realize that, you know, I'm there for her

to bring her through any challenges

that this was gonna bring us.

We're gonna figure out a way to, like, make our lives work

with this kid and still be able to do the things that we love.

As I started to see his excitement

and, like, other people's excitement around me,

I was like wow, this is a gift from God.

So, we have a little surprise for you.

Carissa and I were going to Australia

and we're looking at our phone and we're like,

"Wait! Bethany's pregnant!"

She's pregnant. Yes.

And we were laughing because we were like

nothing was slowing her down.

Second trimester, Bethany

was confident in who she was

and what this pregnancy was gonna be like.

Once we found out she was pregnant,

there's gonna be extra stresses,

there's gonna be extra loads or tension

on her hips and on her back.

And so I wanted to further focus our therapies

to make sure her body was able

to handle that extra stress.

I wanted her to keep surfing as long as she could.

As long as it didn't cause any discomfort.

She knows her body really well,

so she knows when something's right or wrong.

My surfing got smoother.

I got better at surfing while I was pregnant.

The anticipation was building and building.

It was May 31st around 11 at night,

I started to go in labor.

In all the chaos and pain of giving birth,

you forget it all as soon as Tobias came out.

The start of a new beginning for the three of us.

New diaper.

On and under.

No crying allowed.

No crying allowed, Tobias.

Oh, spit up.

It's a baby's world.

Seven weeks post-birth I got invited

to surf in the Lowers Pro.

Putting so many years on the QS and coming so close

to qualifying to then be in the situation I was reaching for

was super exciting. I just couldn't say no.

Okay, okay, okay.

I had three and a half months before the competition.

My first day getting back in the ocean,

I just felt so weak and weird and off.

My body was just thrashed from giving birth

and going through pregnancy.

You feel really different.

Crying baby.

I surfed like two days in a row

and the third day-- I felt worse that day

than the day after giving birth.

I had to just go lay down.

The 2015 World Surf League

has arrived at Lower Trestles.

The wildcard Bethany Hamilton trying to take out

all the contenders in this year's world title race.

Go Mom.

It was our first trip traveling with Tobias

and I was full-time nursing him.

I really couldn't be away from him for more than two hours.

Hi.

You brought the little man down.

He was still recovering from colic too at that point,

so he was just kind of fussy and sometimes he'd eat

and sometimes he wouldn't.

It was so hard.

Yeah, you were hungry, huh?

Welcome to the Swatch Women's Pro

Stop Number Seven on the Samsung Galaxy Championship Tour.

I have an hour and a half when my heat starts.

The vibe there is very intense.

World title race is on.

I knew physically she was ready,

but, like, mentally she had to get into the right head space.

You remember how special this wave is

for Bethany, she won a national title our here,

had the accident losing her arm, came back to win one.

Learning how to surf with one arm.

Kiss your boy, for good luck.

You're watching the Swatch Women's Pro

featuring current world number one, Courtney Conlogue,

Nikki Van Dijk, and wildcard Bethany Hamilton.

As we see little Tobias on screen,

rooting on his mom in a huge event

here at Lower Trestles.

She just had her child, June 1st.

- That's only four months ago. - What?

And here she is competing.

It's hard to take a long break like that

and then jump right back into the jersey.

And all of a sudden it just started howling,

gnarly offshore winds.

It just rattled me.

With now, a little opportunity

for the Hawaiian, that wind really holding her up

on the take-off. Hamilton, will have to kick out.

And half of the time,

my mind's still on the beach with Tobias.

And you can see right now,

Bethany's first heat, she hasn't settled in

to that potential that we know she's capable of.

I totally flailed and it felt horrible.

Come on guys.

Back up.

Back up a little bit please guys,

everybody this side.

Just feeling so frustrated...

to blow such an amazing opportunity.

You can't do something like that half-heartedly.

Being a guy, I want to provide,

I want to--

I want to be depended on.

'Cause that's how I grew up, that's how

everyone I knew grew up.

Hey, Tobias.

Whoa, whoa!

It's definitely like challenging.

I started out thinking like

okay for this few years or something, I'm gonna support Bethany

and things will kind of like, phase out and, um,

like, then I'll get a job.

I think it'd just be really hard

on us to be separated

so much if he was busy with his own endeavors.

There's definitely a balance

that we're trying to find and are continually.

I couldn't be where I am today without the way

that he's supported me.

After a disappointing result

at Lower Trestles, Bethany Hamilton gets

the wildcard for the Fiji Pro.

I always just dreamed of Fiji and

thinking like wow, that would be my dream wave to compete in.

I couldn't let go of my goals and dreams

for the World Tour.

So finally I'm like yes, I'm there.

First I wanted to do a couple of surf trips

to fine tune my surfing and my fitness.

The more opportunity you have to perform

and work on your surfing the better you get.

She, like, buckled down and trained her butt off.

♪ Since ♪

♪ I was young ♪

♪ I knew I'd find you ♪

♪ But our love ♪

♪ Was a song ♪

♪ Sung by a dying swan ♪

♪ And in the night ♪

♪ You hear me calling ♪

♪ You hear me calling ♪

♪ And in your dreams ♪

♪ You'll see me falling ♪

♪ Falling ♪

♪ Breathe in the light ♪

♪ I'll stay here in the shadows ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Waiting for a sign ♪

♪ As the tide grows ♪

♪ Higher and higher and higher ♪

♪ And when the nights are long ♪

♪ All those stars recall ♪

♪ Your goodbye ♪

♪ Your goodbye ♪

♪ And in the night ♪

♪ You'll hear me calling ♪

♪ You'll hear me calling ♪

♪ And in your dreams ♪

♪ You'll see us falling ♪

♪ Falling ♪

♪ And in the night ♪

♪ You'll hear me calling ♪

♪ You'll hear me calling ♪

♪ And in your dreams ♪

♪ You'll see us falling ♪

♪ Falling ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Breathe in ♪

♪ The light ♪

♪ And say ♪

♪ Goodbye ♪

♪ Breathe in ♪

♪ The light ♪

♪ And say ♪

♪ Goodbye ♪

Ha!

Whoa!

By the time I got to Fiji

I was feeling really good.

Fiji is every surfer's favorite stop on tour.

It's like non-stop.

The waves breaks out in the middle of a reef,

two miles off the ocean.

Not only is it a great high performance wave,

but there's a really heavy barrel when it's big.

Warm water, tropical, you cannot do better.

I have to admit, of course I was excited

when I saw that Bethany got the wildcard,

but I was a little skeptical.

I've seen her in a couple of the events before

and unfortunately there aren't that many waves,

it's really hard for her to compete.

The 2016 World Surf League Championship Tour

has once again arrived in Fiji.

Live streaming starts now.

Welcome back to the Fiji Pro,

day one of competition here Ronnie Blakey

with Ross Williams and Ross,

we've just scored ourselves one of the best heats

of the first round.

It's epic, you know, Bethany Hamilton,

one of the most famous surfers on the planet

up against Tyler that's wearing the yellow jersey

and then of course Nikki Van Dijk,

she's right there in the mix, excited to see this heat.

Still no waves ridden just yet.

Not a lot of opportunity

in the opening stages of this heat.

This is a funky heat right here.

Low scores, not many waves, so it's gonna just be

a total pressure test here in the last ten minutes.

Nothing separating first from third

as Nikki, she makes a run at the number one position.

Nice looking wall.

Oh man, that wave was ten times better

than anything we've seen so far in this heat.

And this heat has come to a close.

And Tyler Wright and Bethany Hamilton

will have to fight their way out of the second round.

That was annoying.

Our heat shut off and there was no waves to surf.

That's surfing for you.

Want Momma?

Yeah

Yeah

Okay, Bubba, let's get you some milk.

Let's get you some.

Yeah.

It's like to me this is really relaxing feeding him.

At this point everyone's talking about Tyler

shooting for the world title.

I was like, I wonder what's gonna happen

in this Round Two against Tyler,

you know Tyler's been on fire all year.

What a run for Tyler Wright,

to start off the season number one in the world.

She's having the best start of her life,

so right out of the gate,

you've got a giant hurdle to climb.

We're in the same heat again.

So who's gonna win this heat?

I think Tyler's gonna take it out,

she's just too sharp.

Strata?

I'm with him.

Yeah, it's hard to go against Tyler

in the form she's in at the moment.

I'm like, oh my gosh, Tyler, I'm totally cheering for you.

You're surfing amazing, like win the world title.

But I really want to beat you right now.

Here goes Bethany, tucking in to the barrel.

Finding some cover.

A clean exit and looking to set up

once again on the inside here.

She needs an 8.9 to get herself into the lead.

Here is the number, it's a nine

for Bethany Hamilton.

I wasn't ready for her to freaking throw up nines

against, you know, the current number one in the world.

Well a minute and 40 seconds to go

and Tyler using priority needs a 7.44 out of this ride

to take the lead.

Bethany is gonna get herself on another decent set wave.

Her open faced turns again looking strong

as she tucks into the barrel once again on the inside.

And, oh, a bit of body language there

to finish that ride off, she feels good, stands tall,

30 seconds remaining.

And the wildcard Bethany Hamilton

is gonna take the win and move on through

to Round Three.

And Tyler, for just the second time in her CT career

is falling out of the drawer in the second round.

How she's been able to adapt

and be the powerhouse that she is

is absolutely incredible.

I don't know how she does it.

Bethany was kind of in a rhythm.

She got this confidence boost

and she seemed ready to just charge.

We've got the third round hitting the lineup now

and the first heat is a big one.

Steph Gilmore up against Johanne Defay

and the wildcard who took out the Jeep ratings leader

in the second round. But can she continue

her magic run into the quarterfinals here?

Next round, I got six-time

world champ Steph Gilmore.

Stephanie...

Gilmore!

I'm competitive.

I'm not gonna shy away from that fact.

I can tell you right now that's why I'm here.

When you're a wildcard,

you're up against the world's best,

but that's a huge opportunity.

Whether you win or lose it's kind of the Rocky Balboa thing.

Sometimes you just want to go the distance with them.

Bethany Hamilton up at the moment

and she has picked off a wave that is actually cleaned up

on the inside.

And she sticks that float right on the end section,

so shallow just there.

That was pretty amazing right there from Bethany,

again so much effort.

I was kind of like, okay, I need to actually focus here

and do everything I can to try and beat her.

Six-time world champ Steph Gilmore.

She has put together some of the best heats

this year, but here she goes.

An 8.6 so she is now in second spot.

This is your Fiji Pro wildcard Bethany Hamilton

leading this heat really feeling confident now

and on the attack.

Man, Bethany just handing it to the top seeds.

She's surfing against the world's best

and she's blowing them out.

Of course it's gonna be a freakin' home run story.

Tonight, she is wowing the world all over again.

For her to take down two world champs,

the current world champ

and a six-time world champ is pretty rad.

We were hooting and hollering and jumping up and down.

We were pretty much screaming.

I'm sure the neighbors heard us.

I was at a restaurant and I was screaming,

I mean it was like Super Bowl Sunday to me.

This is bigger than sports.

It really is inspiring.

I think I'm just a reminder for the young girls

that like hey, you can do it if you set your mind to it.

Now Hamilton rolls in,

stomps the takeoff beautifully.

It was one of the best watched shows

we've ever had.

Hamilton flies away on the inside corner,

ton of variety, exploding on her big points.

And we're gonna close out this first quarter-final heat

with the wildcard from Hawaii absolutely dominating

out here at Cloudbreak.

I made it.

Hi, you.

Here you go.

I would love to win this event

and I don't want to think about how stoked I am

to be in the semis, 'cause I want to win.

The craziest part for me

is seeing her here in Fiji as a mom

and multitasking between heats,

like holding Tobias and making it all happen

and keeping things organized and focused.

Which is so cool for all the girls on tour,

especially me, I was like hey,

I'm gonna wait until my career's over

and then have kids, but you know it's really cool

to see hey you can do both.

All the best out there.

Thank you.

Bethany now 26 years of age.

Competing in the top stage now for the second time

in the last two seasons. We saw her at Lowers,

but now her best result in the making.

She's all the way into the semifinals.

Upset some huge names along the way.

I just get into that heat, like, so excited,

but I just have no rhythm. Nothing goes my way.

I'm like trying to turn the heat around

and it's just not happening.

As we close this one out.

Johanne Defay celebrates a big win to move on to the final

and we celebrate an amazing wildcard performance

from Bethany Hamilton from Kauai.

Johanne went on to win the event,

so at least I went down to number one.

Good surfing, Bethany.

Bethany showing people and reminding people

what she's capable of and what she's doing sends a message.

Regardless of whether she wins or not.

A little congrats to Bethany Hamilton.

Shaking up the Jeep leaderboard.

Fiji was Bethany's best result in a CT

and I was so proud of her.

She was just on that level of the best in the world

and it was just cool to see it all come out.

There's just so much, so much emotion just talking

about it because I'm extremely happy for her

and it's just, yeah, it's incredible.

After Fiji I had been nominated

for an ESPY Award and I got so excited

I was like, oh best female action sports athlete.

Then I found out that I was nominated

for best disabled athlete.

According to E! News 26 year old professional surfer

Bethany Hamilton has withdrawn her nomination

for best female athlete with a disability.

To place me in a disabled category

just didn't really seem fitting at all.

I really think the word disabled,

has a negative ring to it.

I really like the word adaptive much better

because it's a way of getting around

your physical ailments and using your mind

to figure out how to get something accomplished.

Being often called Soul Surfer,

Shark Girl,

disabled,

all these different names for me always kind of felt

like being put into this box.

You want to tell us about your dream then?

It like came from behind me

and it was like biting my belly.

Biting your belly?

Like my legs were in it and

it was biting my belly and I was holding

the lower jaw from coming into this way.

And then I woke up.

Was it scary?

Nuh-uh.

Come on, honey, tell the truth.

It was not fun.

It wasn't fun?

It just wasn't scary.

I think of all the struggles and pains

that I've faced and gone through and how

really it's God who's gotten me through all that.

But yeah, at the same time, God gave me this passion

to surf and it wasn't like that passion had been taken too.

My life could've looked a lot different

after losing my arm and I could've lived

a simple, quiet life

but I still wanted to surf.

- Go Bethany. - Yeah!

I think that time has come for us,

when she goes and surfs crazy waves,

I kind of just let her go for that nowadays.

Her journey is not what all her friends' journeys are.

She's in rare air.

She's in a place that no one's been.

It was super crowded.

Chaos everywhere.

The sets were a solid 60 foot faces.

You can't predict anything,

so we had ambulances on call, ready to go.

We let the fire station, all lifeguards

know we're going out.

You just got to be ready for anything.

It was very intense not knowing what to expect.

Still getting some westerlies coming

your way, two more waves.

Here comes a set.

Great, get ready.

She's up.

- Let's go. - Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

Give me five boy.

That was sick.

I mean I never thought I'd ever see this.

I mean, this is beyond.

Nice smile.

Good warm up!

- Yeah! - Yeah.

How was that?

It was so amazing.

I like that I'm alive too, I didn't--

I feel like I need to get pounded out there.

You never even pulled the cord.

That's crazy.

With tow surfing, all the credit goes

to the driver that pulls you in.

Like yeah, you rode that wave,

and cool it was the biggest wave ever,

but your driver got you that wave.

She wanted to paddle into Jaws.

But like, okay.

Paddle surfing, it's all about you

and your knowledge and all the preparation

that you've done in your life

to be where you are in that moment.

The set came out of nowhere.

She went over the falls

getting super annihilated,

the board ended up puller her back.

She kept getting pushed in, pushed in, pushed in.

Everything's moving so quickly.

You got to get her before she goes to the rocks.

All good, we got her, she's on the sled.

Copy that.

She's okay, smiling, all good.

Even though she just got a 18 footer on the head,

she came up smiling

and I was like, you're gnarly.

I'm thinking like, okay, maybe we're done.

Because that was the most intense thing ever,

you're like I would've been calling it quits,

I'm done, I just got licked.

After that whole situation, she just paddled straight out

and just sent it.

I've heard people comment

about that it would be so hard with one arm.

That comment was sticking in my brain.

I don't want that to be my reason for not trying.

The ocean is so much for me.

It's my passion and my love,

but also my place of healing and reflection.

And,

somewhere where I can just be me.

♪ You're broken down and tired ♪

♪ Of living life on a merry-go-round ♪

♪ And you can't find the fighter ♪

♪ But I see it in you so we gonna walk it out and ♪

♪ Move ♪

♪ Mountains ♪

♪ We gonna walk it out and ♪

♪ Move ♪

♪ Mountains ♪

♪ And I'll rise up ♪

♪ I'll rise like the day ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ I'll rise unafraid ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ And I'll do it a thousand times again ♪

♪ And I'll rise up ♪

♪ High like the waves ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ In spite of the ache ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ And I'll do it a thousands times again ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ When the silence isn't quiet ♪

♪ And it feels like it's getting hard to breathe ♪

♪ And I know you feel like dying ♪

♪ But I promise we'll take the world to its feet ♪

These petals can resemble different things in our lives.

I think it can resemble, the loss of our limb,

it can resemble family pain.

It can resemble eating disorders.

Oh, we lost another pedal.

It's still so beautiful.

And so are we.

I believe this is how God sees each and every one of you.

And at the end of the day, like, life's gonna continue

to have struggles and pain,

but knowing Christ, we have an amazing future.

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ All we need ♪

♪ All we need is hope ♪

♪ And for that we have each other ♪

♪ And for that we have each other ♪

♪ And we will rise ♪

♪ We will rise ♪

♪ We'll rise, oh oh ♪

♪ We'll rise ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ Rise like the day ♪

♪ I'll rise up ♪

♪ In spite of the ache ♪

♪ I will rise a thousands times again ♪

♪ And we'll rise up ♪

♪ Rise like the waves ♪

♪ We'll rise up ♪

♪ In spite of the ache ♪

♪ We'll rise up ♪

♪ And we'll do it a thousands times again ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪ For you ♪

♪♪

- Yeah. - Alright.

Unstoppable Me.

"Makana the lion loves to have fun."

"In the ocean and under the sun."

"And what this lion loves most of all,

is riding the waves, both big and small."

"How can a lion surf, you may say."

"By practicing hard, day after day."

"Crush.

The big wave, swallows her up.

Flipping and tumbling, she's had quite enough.

Discouraged and scared, she runs back to shore."

"Makana does not want to surf anymore."

"But then Mr. Turtle has something to say.

Remember we all fall along the way.

You need to get up.

You need to be brave.

Go out there again and catch a new wave."

"The great wave she's searched for is finally here.

It's big and it's strong and she has no fear."

"From that day forward, she told everyone

when fears and doubts start to come your way..."

"Be unstoppable,

that's what Makana would say."