Thirteen-year-old shark attack victim Bethany Hamilton is doing “extremely well,” according to an update on her condition posted at www.bethanyhamilton.com dated yesterday. Her family is using the Web site to keep the public updated on her condition while they step
Thirteen-year-old shark attack victim Bethany Hamilton is doing “extremely well,” according to an update on her condition posted at www.bethanyhamilton.com dated yesterday. Her family is using the Web site to keep the public updated on her condition while they step back from what they are calling a barrage of media attention from around the globe.
“Tuesday, she left her room for the first time to visit a young female patient being treated for a tumor,” the report put up on the Internet by her family said. “She also met a blind man, and in both encounters expressed a desire to help them.”
Hamilton lost her left arm from just below the shoulder in a shark attack last Friday, and has made a remarkable recovery.
Almost 50,000 Internet viewers have visited the message-board section of the family’s Web site, according to statistics posted on the site. The site contains a mixture of photographs of the girl, updates, a list of how to contribute to funds set up for her, professions of her faith which she says are carrying her through her ordeal, and a message board where messages to her and about her can be posted.
An example of the messages being sent to the Web site is one dated last night: “I am neither a surfer, a Christian nor a Hawaiian, and have never heard of Bethany until I heard the news of this tragic attack. This could have been yet another among the many depressing and disheartening news stories of our times, and yet because of Bethany, because of who she is, it has become a positive and inspirational story instead.”
First Hawaiian Bank is receiving donations to help pay for the girl’s rehabilitation and other medical expenses, at its Lihu‘e branch. Checks should be made payable to “Friends of Bethany Hamilton” and mailed to First Hawaiian Bank, 4423 Rice St., Lihu‘e, HI 96766. Donations are also being received on the North Shore by Hanalei Surf Company, “Friends of Bethany Hamilton,” P.O. Box 790, Hanalei, HI 96714.
A “Friends of Bethany Hamilton Fund-raiser” is planned for Saturday, Nov. 15 at the Kaua‘i Marriott Resort & Beach Club in Lihu‘e, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Rip Curl surfwear is sponsoring the free event, which is open to the public. Food, entertainment and a silent auction are part of the fund-raiser. Donations for the silent auction may be dropped off at Hanalei Surf Company or Nukumoi Surf Company in Po‘ipu.
