content: Actually I would imagine it didn't hurt that badly. Sharks have razor sharp teeth that would have cleanly cut the arm off. Couple that with the blood loss and shock, I would imagine the pain was not that bad. The real pain would have been with the healing.  Edit: Found this in an article about her: The bite was so clean and painless that Bethany Hamilton, 13, noticed that the sea had turned red before she realized that her arm was gone at the shoulder. A strange serenity came over her, a warmth, as her body began to scream its outrage. Spurting a deep, rich, burgundy colored blood, She struggled over to her best friend, Alana Blanchard, also thirteen, and could only manage the words: I think a shark just attacked me. Alana told her to not even joke of such matters. Then Alana eyes saw something that her mind couldn’t grasp. The bleeding stump where her best friend’s left arm used to be. Alana’s stomach revolted and purged twice before she called for her father and her brother who were paddling for a nearby wave…