Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton Gets Married to Christian Youth Minister Adam Dirks

Anna Kuta | ReligionToday.com Editor | Updated: Aug 20, 2013

Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton Gets Married to Christian Youth Minister Adam Dirks

Pro surfer Bethany Hamilton, whose story of resilience and faith after losing her left arm to a shark attack in 2003 that inspired the film "Soul Surfer," got married to her fiancé Adam Dirks, a Christian youth minister, on Aug. 17 in Kauai, Hawaii, The Gospel Herald reports. "Today was the most beautiful, wonderful best day of my life! God is more than good(: Excited to live life with my husband Adam Dirks!" Hamilton wrote on Twitter. The 23-year-old athlete, who was born in Hawaii, won an ESPY Award in 2004 and wrote the autobiography called Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board that was turned into a movie in 2011. After the shark attack, it took her just a month to get back out on the waves on the board. Hamilton, who credited her rapid recovery and perseverance despite a tremendous loss to her Christian faith in God, held her marriage ceremony in Kauai, Hawaii, in an intimate but not too small crowd, according to US Magazine. "I'm born and raised there and still live there, so getting married where I'm from," she told Us Weekly at an event in Santa Monica, Calif., earlier this month. The couple met on the beach in the spring of 2012 and Dirks, 25, proposed on April 13. Hamilton said earlier this year that since they've met, Dirks has just swept her off her feet. "I just had to trust in God and know that He had someone special for me," she said. Crosswalk.com previously reviewed the movie "Soul Surfer," as well as telling the story of how Hamilton's faith and trust in God allowed her to overcome insurmountable obstacles.

Soul Surfer Bethany Hamilton Gets Married to Christian Youth Minister Adam Dirks