‘Soul Surfer’ Pregnant: Bethany Hamilton Vows To Keep Surfing During Pregnancy

“Soul Surfer” Bethany Hamilton and husband Adam Dirks are expecting their first child. Hamilton didn’t let losing an arm stop her from surfing, so of course she’s not going to take a break from her board just because of a little baby bump.

According to USA Today, Bethany Hamilton announced her pregnancy in a YouTube video that she shared on her Facebook page. The Soul Surfer told her fans that she has a “baby on board,” and she also made it clear that she’s going to stay on her surfboard as long as she can during her pregnancy.

“I’ve been surfing throughout my whole pregnancy,” she says in the video. “I plan to surf as long as I can. Once the belly’s pretty big maybe just mellow it out, and spend more time swimming and just enjoying the ocean and doing other activities.”

Bethany says that she’s 22 weeks along, and she and Adam are expecting a baby boy early this June. You can check out the couple’s pregnancy announcement below.

Bethany Hamilton became a celebrity after a 2003 shark attack left her with one arm. She was just 13 years old at the time, and she was surfing in a popular spot off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. During an interview with ABC News, Hamilton said that the shark grabbed hold of her arm while she was laying on her board. According to the Soul Surfer, it was trying to pull off the appendage like “how you eat a piece of steak.” After that experience, pregnancy should be a piece of cake.

The shark attack inspired the 2011 movie Soul Surfer, which starred AnnaSophia Robb as Hamilton. In the video above, the real-life Soul Surfer reveals that she’s working on another movie, a documentary called Surfs Like a Girl. According to the project’s Kickstarter page, the movie will showcase the Soul Surfer’s “precision skill and passion for navigating some of the best reef breaks and big waves around the globe.”

It will also tell Bethany’s life story, but it probably won’t focus on her pregnancy at all — Hamilton says that she’s putting the project on hold for now. However, she did hint that her baby might make an appearance in the documentary, as she and Adam Dirks “bring him to all these random surf destinations” around the world.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, the Soul Surfer married Adam Dirks in August 2013. The couple met on a blind date a year earlier, and they seem to share a love of surfing and traveling the world. They competed together during the last season of The Amazing Race, and Bethany did an incredible job despite missing an arm (she and Adam finished third).

Hamilton completed some difficult tasks during her time on The Amazing Race, but she seems to think that having one arm will be more of a handicap when it comes to being a new mom — Bethany says that changing the diaper of a screaming baby could prove to be “really challenging” for her. However, she also points out that she’s great at adapting, so she’ll probably become a diaper changing pro in no time (or she could just make Adam do it).

What do you think of the Soul Surfer’s exciting news?

[Image credit: Bethany Hamilton/Instagram]