Fear, Sharks, and Life

Written by Darren Hewer

You may be familiar with arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and agoraphobia (fear of public places) but are you familiar with selachophobia? That would be fear of sharks.

Recently I was chatting with some friends about which activities we would or wouldn’t fear doing, such as skydiving, rock climbing, storm chasing, bullfighting, etc. I know “swimming with sharks” was mentioned at some point, even though none of us had ever swam with a shark, or even seen one up close besides through thick glass in an aquarium. Most of us aren’t likely to run into a shark anytime soon.

Bethany Hamilton is a teen living in Hawaii who actually would have a good reason to fear sharks. She was a top-ranked surfboarder who lost most of one of her arms after being attacked by a shark.

Some would allow this terrible experience overcome their lives with fear or sorrow, but Bethany continues to embrace life. Her story has been so inspiring that there is a major motion picture in the works about her life.

How has she maintained her bright spirits despite such adversity? Read her story, “Shark-Victim Surfer Girl’s Simple Faith” to find out!