Update, Oct. 19: On Saturday, Oct. 19, legendary surfer Bethany Hamilton shared a heartbreaking update on her nephew.
“The Lord has receive my sweet nephew Andrew into his beautiful care,” Hamilton wrote on Instagram. “While my family and I will miss him dearly, we trust that his joy is full with Jesus.”
Hamilton then shared the “prayer of faith that was prayed by my brother, and our whole family, this last week.”
“This prayer paints so incredibly what it is to have faith. Faith is to trust that Gods will for our life is greater than our own. Thank you all for the love, prayers and support is this trying time. Be blessed.”
Original report begins below:
On Oct. 12, Hamilton took to Instagram to share heartbreaking news.
In her Instagram post, Hamilton asked for help, sharing her “precious nephew was medivaced to Kapiolani in Oahu after drowning” on Oct.11.
Hamilton continued, revealing that Andrew “still has a heartbeat and has fight in him.”
“We are wrecked,” Hamilton added. “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.”
In an update shared on Oct. 13, Hamilton revealed that her family was seeking the help of Dr. Paul Harch. According to Hamilton, Dr. Harch is a “world-renowned HBOT expert on adolescent drowning.”
According to Mayo Clinic, HBOT is Hyperbaric oxygen therapy which “involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment.”
“We got ahold of Dr. Paul Harch (to) help save my nephew and educate doctors in Hawai’i,” she explained.
“Please pray for Andrew and all his loved ones. Pray that we can do our best through this hard time. Much love,” Hamilton continued.
The surfer concluded her updates by sharing she won’t go into detail regarding Andrew’s accident.
“I was not planning n posting about Andrew’s incident. I didn’t want to go to (the) public in the first place, but I knew that it could potentially help him by getting more support and receiving more knowledge/help around what he’s going through and it certainly has been a blessing. Thank you,” Hamilton explained.
“I don’t plan on posting a lot. And will be off this space for the most part,” she wrote. “Thank you for the love, prayers, knowledge, and support.”
According to Children’s Safety Network, “about 900 children and adolescents ages 0–19 die from drowning each year in the U.S., which is an average of three deaths per day.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that drowning is the leading cause of death for children between the ages of 1 to 4.
“Drowning can happen to anyone, any time there is access to water.”