Remember the young surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack? 21 years later she’s fighting to protect women’s sports



A promising young surfer, then 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton’s world was turned upside down when she lost her arm in a shark attack. On “Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey,” Bethany detailed how her family’s faith in God helped her through these troubling times:

“My dad worked really hard — like two to three jobs at a time, so we had a really simple childhood. But they gave me so much. They gave me so much time, and they gave me my faith in God. ... And so, when I lost my arm, it was almost like I was ready, because my mom had raised me in my faith, she would pray with me, she read the Bible to me at bedtime, we went to church ... and so, when chaos hit, I was ready.”

She also explained how she had to relearn surfing and what drove her to get back in the water just 21 days later:

“For me, surfing was more than just a childhood hobby. I feel like it was a way of life and culture and art and sport.”

Bethany said the physical journey was actually pretty easy, but it took a while for her to regain her confidence while surfing and figure out how to do things differently with just one arm — what she calls “Bethany’s version” of surfing. She also explained how frustrating it was to figure out how to do life with just one arm but that her faith in God and His plan for her life kept her going.

She discussed meeting her husband, motherhood, and even surfing while pregnant. According to Bethany, there are certain waves that are better while pregnant, and she surfed well into all her pregnancies, which is apparently commonplace in Hawaii.

Bethany has also been an outspoken advocate for the protection of women’s sports and explained her choice to speak out against biological men in women’s sports, specifically the World Surf League’s rule allowing males to compete against females:

“I feel like, too, a lot of it’s just such an interesting thing, because I feel like if women just said no, this wouldn’t be an issue. If all the female surfers — if the 70% that disagree with [the rule], if they all said no, then the World Surf League would not have an option.”

In the full episode, Bethany dives deeper into her faith, becoming well-known, and her partnership with pro-life diaper brand, EveryLife.

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Tragic: Surfer, photographer Mikala Jones dies due to surfing accident



Surfer Mikala Jones, who is known for capturing photos and videos while riding inside waves, passed away at just 44 years old due to a tragic surfing accident that recently occurred in Indonesia, according to the Associated Press.

The outlet reported the man's father, Dr. John Jones, said that the fin of a surfboard slashed his son's femoral artery. "He was a humble artist. His pictures were incredible," Dr. John Jones remarked, according to the outlet.

Surf photographer Woody Woodworth noted that surfboard fins cutting people represents a common issue. "All the fins that I see are certainly sharp enough with the force of a wave, and pointy enough with the force of the wave, that slicing into somebody’s leg would be very easy," he noted, according to the AP.

Jones got into surfing at the young age of around seven or eight, the outlet reported. Later in life, he scored sponsors and ventured to surf locations in Tahiti, Fiji, South Africa, and the Galapagos Islands, according to the AP, which noted that photographers would snap shots of Jones and other surfers that would then be published in surf magazines.

In the '90s Jones started experimenting with capturing photos of himself, the outlet noted. Later after GoPros came out, he started utilizing them and even got sponsored by the business.

"Legend," surfing icon Kelly Slater recently wrote on what is now Jones' final Instagram post. Slater's recent comment also included a broken-heart emoji. Jones made the post back in May.

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Transgender surfer trounces female competitors in surfing contest in Australia



Transgender surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson, a biological male, recently defeated female competitors at the West Coast Suspensions Longboard and Logger State Championships in Australia.

Lowerson took first place in the Open Women's Longboard and Open Women's Logger divisions, according to Surfing WA.

The transgender surfer trounced the competition, scoring 14.70 in the Open Women's Longboard, compared to the second-place finisher's score of just 10.63 — likewise, Lowerson's 13.97 in the Open Women's Logger dwarfed the runner up's 11.37.

"To be the first transgender woman competing in surfing hasn’t been an easy ride emotionally but the amount of support I’ve been showed has been phenomenal and I’m so grateful to be involved, welcomed and embraced within the longboard community in Australia," Lowerson said, according to Surfing WA.

"It was an amazing experience, with great waves. I surfed an amazing, perfect point break with three other women," Lowerson said, according to the Inertia.

In the past, Lowerson had competed in men's surfing as Ryan Egan. Lowerson began "a medical transition" at the beginning of 2021, the surfer said on a podcast.

"Well, it wasn’t the first event I’ve competed in as a female," Lowerson said, according to the Inertia. "I competed in the Noosa Festival of Surfing in March. So that was technically the first time a trans athlete had ever competed in surfing. And there was no hoo haa then, because there was nothing to talk about. I came 10th. I was surfing against some of the best longboard women in the world, and they schooled me.

"With this event, though, I was a bigger fish in a smaller pond, and there are going to be naysayers as soon as you win one. Unfortunately, when a trans athlete is successful a lot of people want to jump up and down. But there are also a lot of people that want to celebrate it, which is a positive thing," Lowerson said.

Taylor Silverman, a female skateboarder, recently spoke out about losing to a transgender competitor.

Lia Thomas, a biological male who swam for the University of Pennsylvania's women's team, previously made headlines while winning various competitions against female competitors.

"The very simple answer is that I’m not a man," Thomas told Sports Illustrated. "I'm a woman, so I belong on the women’s team. Trans people deserve that same respect every other athlete gets."