Athlete Bethany Hamilton has been surfing professionally since a young age — and always had her family by her side.
In 2003, Bethany lost her left arm after being attacked by a tiger shark while surfing with her best friend in Kauai. Her dad, Tom Hamilton, was set to get knee surgery the morning his daughter was attacked. She took his place in the operating room with the same surgeon.
Bethany and her family were depicted in the 2011 film Soul Surfer.
“My family and I were on the set pretty much every day making sure everything met our expectations – and it totally did!” Bethany wrote in a 2022 blog post about the movie. “We all had little cameos in the film (have you spotted us? haha) and my brothers helped on the crew as well.”
While she’s still close to her immediate family, Bethany has since started a family of her own. She and husband Adam Dirks share four kids together.
Keep scrolling to see Bethany’s family guide:
Tom and Cheri Hamilton
The couple met while working at the Kauai Surf Hotel and eventually got married. They welcomed sons Noah Hamilton in 1981 and Timmy Hamilton in 1986 before rounding out their family with Bethany in 1990.
Noah Hamilton
While Bethany’s older brother also has a background in surfing, he works as a photographer and camera operator. Noah has been a Steadicam operator on various movie sets, including Jurassic World, Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and more.
He married wife Becky Baumgartner in 2009. In October 2024, Bethany shared a plea with followers regarding Noah’s 3-year-old son, Andrew. She explained in an Instagram caption that Andrew had accidentally drowned and was medevaced to an Oahu hospital.
“He still has a heartbeat and has fight in him,” captioned the Instagram post. “We are wrecked, but I know how proper medical support can make or break someone’s chance of survival and in this case, we’re asking for help from anyone who has information of what we can do to give my nephew the best chance.”
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The family found a doctor that specializes in adolescent drowning to help with Andrew’s recovery.
Timmy Hamilton
Bethany’s other brother has been married to Kyah Elise Schneider since 2012.
Adam Dirks
The professional surfer met Dirks in 2012 and by the following year, they were engaged. The couple tied the knot in August 2013 and have since welcomed four kids together — three sons, Tobias, Wesley and Micah, along with a daughter named Alaya.
