Bethany Hamilton: The Unstoppable Story — Transcript

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1. 0:00[Music]
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9. 0:17[Music]
10. 0:20Hi, I'm Brian Elliot. Welcome to another
11. 0:22episode of Behind the Brand. Today I'm
12. 0:23here with prourfer Bethany Hamilton.
13. 0:29[Music]
14. 0:31[Applause]
15. 0:38Bethany, welcome to the show.
16. 0:39Thank you. Thank you for having me.
17. 0:40You bet. So, tell us what's going on.
18. 0:43Well, um I've had a crazy last couple of
19. 0:45years and um it's kind of coming to the
20. 0:47winding end of making my movie Soul
21. 0:50Surfer. DVD is releasing this August.
22. 0:52So, it's been an amazing couple of
23. 0:54years. Just life-changing and I've
24. 0:56learned so much. I've just enjoyed it a
25. 0:59lot.
26. 0:59So, for the viewers who don't know, uh
27. 1:01much about you or your background yet,
28. 1:03kind of tell us what your story is.
29. 1:05Well, um I'm 21 years old and I was born
30. 1:08and raised in Kawaii, Hawaii. My whole
31. 1:11family surf, so I automatically took up
32. 1:13surfing. I was doing really well as a
33. 1:15competing as an amateur like looking for
34. 1:18a professional career. And then when I
35. 1:20was 13 years old, I was surfing off the
36. 1:22coast of Kauaii and I lost my arm to a
37. 1:24shark and it was pretty crazy. And I'm
38. 1:27just thankful to be alive. It was um an
39. 1:30intense day. And
40. 1:32yeah, so a few weeks later, I started
41. 1:34surfing again.
42. 1:35That's amazing.
43. 1:36Yeah, I know. It's kind of crazy.
44. 1:38Literally like less than a month later,
45. 1:40I was back in the water. And that was as
46. 1:41soon as the doctor said I could. And um
47. 1:44yeah, I just am so passionate and
48. 1:46motivated for surfing and and God has
49. 1:49given me this talent and love for it
50. 1:50that I just had to go back out there.
51. 1:52And I guess I was more scared of not
52. 1:55surfing than of sharks or whatever might
53. 1:57happen in the water. So I started
54. 1:59surfing again and ended up competing and
55. 2:03doing well and I'm a professional surfer
56. 2:05now today and I've written a book called
57. 2:07Soul Surfer. I've uh have a documentary
58. 2:10made on my story um Heart of a Soul
59. 2:13Surfer and then it's led into the movie
60. 2:15feature film um Soul Surfer. Tell
61. 2:17us we don't have to wait for the action.
62. 2:18When you get tired of the pipe, come
63. 2:20surf some railways.
64. 2:23Bethany Hamilton is holding nothing
65. 2:25back.
66. 2:28[Music]
67. 2:32As you shoot across the sky,
68. 2:34[Music]
69. 2:40who's the movie for really? Who's the
70. 2:41audience? It's amazing how Soul Surfer
71. 2:44turned out and um I obviously it
72. 2:46definitely really targets young young
73. 2:49girls growing up and especially but I've
74. 2:53heard from so many different ages from
75. 2:55grandpas and grandmas to like little
76. 2:57little kids to teenage boys to grown men
77. 3:01and dads and moms and I really feel like
78. 3:04it reaches like every age. I agree with
79. 3:06you too and you know the our viewers you
80. 3:08know they have challenges they have
81. 3:09obstacles and I really think your story
82. 3:11is a survival story um you know
83. 3:14literally and metaphorically I mean it's
84. 3:16it's the perfect kind of case study I
85. 3:19think for you know athletes and
86. 3:20non-athletes to look at as a way to
87. 3:22overcome challenges you know.
88. 3:25Yeah definitely and like so many of us
89. 3:27are have crazy circumstances and stuff
90. 3:29that we are not expecting come and get
91. 3:31thrown at us and it's like you got to
92. 3:33choose how you want to deal with it. you
93. 3:35can either give up and just kind of get
94. 3:38self-pity or just, you know,
95. 3:40look for the look for the good in
96. 3:42things. And no, I didn't really deal
97. 3:44with self-pity. It was like more just
98. 3:46like what am I going to do with this
99. 3:48situation? Like I got to turn it into
100. 3:49something good.
101. 3:53So, you had this really bad thing happen
102. 3:55to you and you were able to get back in
103. 3:57the water like a month later. I want to
104. 3:59know because you know people who are
105. 4:00watching the show they're entrepreneurs
106. 4:02um they're athletes uh amateur or you
107. 4:05know uh doing their own thing but I want
108. 4:07to talk more about how you overcame
109. 4:09obstacles and where sort of that
110. 4:11inspiration came from because I don't
111. 4:13think that's normal like someone has
112. 4:15something like that dramatic happen to
113. 4:16them you know it may set them back for
114. 4:19years how did you get through it so fast
115. 4:21I was only 13 years old and to have your
116. 4:23arm taken away is intense and I don't I
117. 4:27really don't know how I dealt with I
118. 4:28mean, I know that like my my faith in
119. 4:30Jesus Christ is really what gets me
120. 4:32through every little thing that I do.
121. 4:33And I've been through so much that I
122. 4:36don't know if I could have done it on my
123. 4:37own, but just trusting in him and
124. 4:39knowing that God loves me and has a plan
125. 4:41bigger than I know is really what I can
126. 4:44have hope in and
127. 4:47continue surfing and and making good
128. 4:49choices dayto day and I get so much
129. 4:51thrown at me that I have to deal with.
130. 4:53So, it's pretty amazing how that works.
131. 4:56Were you really vocal about, you know,
132. 4:59sharing your faith and you're you seem
133. 5:00to be a very spiritual person. Is that
134. 5:02was that how it was growing up or did
135. 5:05that come later after you and I want to
136. 5:07kind of find out where this
137. 5:10inspiration comes from?
138. 5:11Yeah, it's, you know, religion is
139. 5:13something that a lot of people maybe are
140. 5:15not into or into. And for me, it's it's
141. 5:18more of a relationship with God who
142. 5:20loves me. And, you know, when I'm
143. 5:21dealing with something that I'm
144. 5:22struggling with, I'm able to bring it to
145. 5:24him. and just it always seems to work
146. 5:26itself out.
147. 5:27So that was a great source of strength
148. 5:28for you and something you fell back on
149. 5:30in a big way after the accident.
150. 5:31Yeah, for sure.
151. 5:32Well, maybe it's kind of natural, too,
152. 5:34because surfing is kind of a spiritual
153. 5:35experience, right?
154. 5:36Yeah. Surfing is something so special.
155. 5:38It's like when I'm out on the ocean, I
156. 5:40feel at home. Like I have a stressful
157. 5:42day, but as soon as I step in the water,
158. 5:44I can forget it all and just have fun
159. 5:45and be myself and get creative on waves
160. 5:48and get some exercise and feel healthy.
161. 5:52[Music]
162. 5:54So, so fast forward, you know, a few
163. 5:56months or maybe in a a couple of years
164. 5:57after, I mean, what kind of obstacles
165. 6:00did you face mentally, physically, and
166. 6:02talk to us about how you got through
167. 6:03that? Because I'm sure your
168. 6:05rehabilitation and learning how to surf
169. 6:07all over again wasn't easy.
170. 6:09Yeah, definitely. Just taking one step
171. 6:11at a time, learning how to surf was
172. 6:12definitely challenging and I worked
173. 6:14really hard at it. And I think being
174. 6:16young, I was very adaptive and creative
175. 6:18and figuring out how to do things. And
176. 6:20there's this one cool scene in Soul
177. 6:22Surfer that is based off a true scene of
178. 6:24my dad making a handle on my surfboard
179. 6:26so that I can grab my board and like
180. 6:28duck dive and it's a very simple thing.
181. 6:30You just it's just a little handle on my
182. 6:32surfboard and it really helped me duck
183. 6:33dive something like but stuff like that
184. 6:35just being creative and figuring out how
185. 6:37to do things. And
186. 6:38did you get discouraged at all along the
187. 6:39way?
188. 6:40I definitely had my discouraging days
189. 6:41and I would just kind of like take a
190. 6:43break or go hang out with friends and
191. 6:45try to forget it and move on. So you're
192. 6:48Hawaii, easygoing nature. You let it
193. 6:51roll off your back.
194. 6:52No worries attitude. Got
195. 6:53Yeah. I mean, yeah, definitely. And then
196. 6:55you have the good days that are so
197. 6:57rewarding and especially when you get
198. 6:59good surf and you're just so stoked that
199. 7:01you forget everything that you dealt
200. 7:02with the last week that might not have
201. 7:04been as good.
202. 7:05You and a lot of Blanchard sort of grew
203. 7:06up on the same path, right?
204. 7:08Yeah. A lot of me are like best friends
205. 7:10since we were like 8 years old and we
206. 7:12really pushed each other to get better
207. 7:14and better at surfing and it's cool to
208. 7:15see how both of our lives have developed
209. 7:18and blossomed.
210. 7:22So what advice would you give to young
211. 7:23girls who are facing challenges either
212. 7:25you know mental or physical
213. 7:26whatever age you are like if you're
214. 7:28dealing with something inside or outside
215. 7:31like I just I think it's important to
216. 7:34know that like find your qualities and
217. 7:36and focus on those and then if you are
218. 7:39like weak in in some aspects whether
219. 7:41it's mental or physical like work hard
220. 7:43at that like if it's physical there's
221. 7:45there's so many great opportunities to
222. 7:48work on getting fitter or like physical
223. 7:51therapy. I'm such a strong believer in
224. 7:52that. Um I've been working really hard
225. 7:54at my posture and spinal alignment which
226. 7:56has helped me so much and and just
227. 7:58keeping my body healthy and also just
228. 8:01eating healthy I think is a huge role in
229. 8:03our physical health and even our mental
230. 8:05health. Like so many people have such
231. 8:06bad diets and you see that they're not
232. 8:09able to really focus on things and and
233. 8:11keep their motivation in life. then um I
234. 8:14think it's another huge important aspect
235. 8:16which I could spend hours talking about
236. 8:19but yeah just eating a healthy diet and
237. 8:21and most of all just looking for the
238. 8:23positive in things like we all face hard
239. 8:26situations and really just know that
240. 8:29good can come out of it and you just got
241. 8:31to fight for that.
242. 8:33You're amazingly optimistic. Um and I
243. 8:35think you're the perfect role model for
244. 8:38like I said for anyone. It doesn't have
245. 8:39to be athletics or whatever, but it's
246. 8:40you're incredible role model and I think
247. 8:42you're making a big difference.
248. 8:47Talk to us about how now you're sort of
249. 8:49using your celebrity for good. So, a lot
250. 8:51of people look up to you. You're getting
251. 8:53involved in other things. You know,
252. 8:55you'll probably be surfing the rest of
253. 8:56your life, but what do you see yourself
254. 8:58doing either in addition to surfing or
255. 9:00after you officially, you know, hang up
256. 9:03your career? What else what else are you
257. 9:04interested in and what else can you see
258. 9:06yourself doing? Well, I'm 21 years old
259. 9:08now and I have so many opportunities
260. 9:11ahead of me. I really just want to make
261. 9:13a difference in this world. Um, what
262. 9:15I've started with is I've um started a
263. 9:17nonprofit organization called Friends of
264. 9:19Bethany Hamilton and um our target with
265. 9:22that is to reach um shark attack victims
266. 9:25or amputees or people just going through
267. 9:28a rough time and it's been really cool.
268. 9:30I've met some really awesome people that
269. 9:31I've gotten to encourage, but then
270. 9:33oftentimes I end up getting encouraged.
271. 9:35Um, I met this one girl the other day.
272. 9:37She came up to Kawaii on her honeymoon
273. 9:39and um, she had been in a gnarly car
274. 9:41accident and lost the use of her arm and
275. 9:45she's a snowboard instructor and she's
276. 9:47learning to play guitar with one arm and
277. 9:50it was like amazing cuz I used to play
278. 9:52guitar and I haven't even tried to like
279. 9:54learn to play it. But yeah, like that's
280. 9:56just an example of a cool story through
281. 9:57this organization that we're working on.
282. 9:59And this is with my family and I and
283. 10:01it's been really just cool and I've
284. 10:03learned a lot. And I'm also um looking
285. 10:06into making a TV show of with me kind of
286. 10:10just traveling and reaching out to
287. 10:12people in different parts of the world
288. 10:13and yeah,
289. 10:14kind of just getting creative with it
290. 10:17kind of kind of shows.
291. 10:18Yeah. just adventuring,
292. 10:19day in the life, better than
293. 10:20surfing and but also like helping people
294. 10:23around the world like I've been on a few
295. 10:25mission trips and stuff like that and
296. 10:28just getting fun with it.
297. 10:29That's awesome.
298. 10:30Yeah.
299. 10:33You also use social media a lot, you
300. 10:35know. Talk to us about how you use that
301. 10:37and why you're using it. Is it the way
302. 10:39to reach your fans and engage with
303. 10:40people? I'm really pretty active on
304. 10:42Facebook and Twitter and I also have a
305. 10:45blog and with that I really like to just
306. 10:47keep people in the loop with what I'm
307. 10:49doing. Um, and I love sharing health
308. 10:51tips and just encouraging people. It's
309. 10:54it's really an awesome way to keep in
310. 10:56touch with people. And um,
311. 10:57where can they find you on Twitter?
312. 10:59Um, I'm just Bethany, Bethany Hamilton.
313. 11:01Um, and then same Facebook, just Bethany
314. 11:03Hamilton, even though I know there's a
315. 11:05few fake ones, but hopefully you'll
316. 11:06figure out which one's me.
317. 11:08Final questions. Um, so what's something
318. 11:10about you that a lot of people don't
319. 11:12know? Maybe it's a superpower you've got
320. 11:14or something, you know, that a lot of
321. 11:16people don't know. Are you a great
322. 11:17singer? Do you cook? I mean, what's
323. 11:19Okay,
324. 11:19one of your hidden talents.
325. 11:20Some things I like to do. I love food
326. 11:22preparation. Um, like just making
327. 11:25creative things. And sometimes it's
328. 11:27cooking and sometimes it's just getting
329. 11:28creative with my food processor.
330. 11:30Yeah. And um I did jiu-jitsu for a
331. 11:33while, which I really like and I want to
332. 11:35start back up, but it just kind of
333. 11:37conflicts with surfing sometimes. So
334. 11:39yeah, two kind of random things that I
335. 11:41like to do.
336. 11:42Thank you so much for spending a few
337. 11:43minutes with us. It was super great
338. 11:44meeting you and wish you all the success
339. 11:46in the future.
340. 11:47Thank you so much. Aloha.
341. 11:50[Music]
342. 11:57[Music]