Am heartbroken for this beautiful kid (am confident that she will prevail, however)…This morning on the “today” show in New York, newsman - Matt Lauer - spoke (live) with her dad, Tom, about her recovery. The girl is doing amazingly well, physically, under the circumstances. I was wondering if any of my Island homeboys know where to send words of encouragement and goodies for Bethany. Tom said that his daughter was a budding artist, and I’d love to send her some pastels and paints and stuffs li’dat. Art is especially therapeutic for someone in such a situation …good for the spirit as well as a temporary distraction from the pains of readjustment. Hey, who knows…maybe a career?! In any case, I was wondering if there’s a get well or contribution address. (by the way - not that it matters, especially - are she and her dad kin of the billy/laird ohana?). Thank-you, T.
Howzit Tom, Bethany and her family are not relilatives of Bill Hamilton, but they are friends. Aloha, Kokua
Tom, the info below is courtesy of sagada1, posted in the Harbour forum: • Contact Bethany Hamilton by e-mail at . The messages will be downloaded and saved for when Bethany is able to read them. For details on fund-raisers and information on Bethany’s progress, visit the Web site www.bethanyhamilton.com. • Send cards, messages or donations to Bethany Hamilton, in care of Hanalei Surf Co., P.O. Box 790, Hanalei, HI 96714. • Monetary donations payable to “Friends of Bethany Hamilton” may be dropped off at any branch of First Hawaiian Bank, or mailed to the bank’s Lihu’e branch at 4423 Rice St., Lihu’e, HI, 96766
Folow this link to the rip Curl site for a follow up on the story. The girl has a heart of gold and sounds like she is doing as well as can be expected. God bless her and her family. http://www.ripcurl.com/content/anmviewer.asp?a=479&z=1 Drew
Thank-you for the information, bros…a care package is going out this week. Much appreciated; aloha nui, T.
Shark update, Thursday morning Ralph Young and Bill Hamilton caught a 13 to 14 foot tiger shark 50 feet south of the Bowl at Hanalei bay. They are going to see if the jaw matches the bite out of Bethany’s board. There’s a good chance that it might be the same shark since it has the same chewed dorsal fin that the shark that attacked Bethany had. Over the last week there has been 1 or 2 sharks cruising the line-up at the Bay so Ralph and Bill decided to do something about it, they are not on a big shark hunting trip, but just decided it was better to to get the shark before it got another surfer. Aloha, Kokua