Bethany Hamilton is speaking out about the heartbreaking loss of her nephew, Andrew.
On Saturday, the 34-year-old professional surfer took to Instagram to confirm the sad news that her 3-year-old nephew had passed away following a drowning accident.
Alongside sweet photos of Andrew over the years, Bethany wrote, “The Lord has receive[d] my sweet nephew Andrew into his beautiful care. While my family and I will miss him dearly, we trust that his joy is full with Jesus.”
“Here is a prayer of faith that was prayed by my brother, and our whole family, this last week,” she continued. “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.”
The mom of four added that she “pinned” the prayer in her comments section.
Bethany also posted on her Instagram Stories, first sharing a link to her Instagram post alongside a group family photo. “Andrew is and was loved so well. His joy is full in the Lord,” she wrote.
The famous surfer, who lost her arm at 13 in a shark attack, also shared a photo of Andrew asleep on her chest. “I was so happy cause Alaya was sleeping the other day,” she wrote, referring to her 16-month-old daughter, “and Andrew came upstairs and was also tired so [he] fell asleep on me 😭🥹.”
It was just last week that Bethany shared on Instagram that Andrew had suffered a drowning incident on October 11, and was “medevacked to a hospital in Oahu, Hawaii. She said he “still [had] a heartbeat and [had] fight in him.” Bethany made a desperate plea to her followers, asking them for help and to pray for her nephew.
Her brother, Noah Hamilton, posted about the accident on his Facebook account, in which he said Andrew “was found not breathing in shallow water of bath tub.”
Andrew’s father, Bethany and Noah’s brother, Timothy, announced the news of his son’s passing on Friday, posting an obituary on Instagram.
“Andrew Samuel Hamilton, born December 26th 2020, entered his heavenly rest on Friday, October 17, 2024, succumbing to injuries sustained a week prior in a drowning accident, after all of the best life-saving interventions had been exhausted,” Timothy wrote in part.
He later added, “It hurts terribly and we miss Andrew more than words can express. But we do not mourn as those who have no hope. We rejoice in the certain hope of the glory of God, into whose name Andrew was baptized, whose precious blood washed Andrew clean and made him a child and heir of heaven.”
Read his full post, above.
Noah also posted a touching tribute to his nephew on Facebook, calling Andrew “a strong hammer of a kid.”
“Two days before Andrew accident I got to tandem surf with him. The only solo time I ever got to play with him. I’ve played with his 4 older siblings. We had so much fun,” he wrote. “On our last wave I threw him off the board and he swam to shore through the waves and current sucking him back to sea.”
“I will cherish this memory,” Noah continued. “He was a strong hammer of a kid. We will never know how he got into trouble in a bath with 6in of water. But what we do know is that he’s in heaven singing with the Angels, resting in his heavenly father’s arms of love. I love you Andrew.”
Andrew is survived by his parents, Timothy and Kyah Hamilton, his five older siblings: Thomas, Joshua, Matthew, Noelle, and John, and his extended family.
