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The new film Soul Surfer is one of the most effective true stories to hit our screens this year.

Champion surfer Bethany Hamilton was just 13 years old when she suffered a shark attack in 2003. One of her arms had to be amputated, and the tabloids turned her personal tragedy into a mawkish soap opera.

Her agent described the effect of the media focus on Bethany and her family as "voracious as a second shark attack" because it portrayed her as a helpless victim. One year later, she proved them wrong when she competed in a major surfing competition and finished fifth.

That restored her status in the sport and she also published an account of her recovery in the book Soul Surfer (2004) that led to this feature movie. Bethany insisted that her story should not be portrayed as a tragedy, but as a story of courage, survival and strength.

After sifting through dozens of acting directories, an agent sent actress AnnaSophia Robb a draft script. "I was really young when it happened" said Robb, "but I knew her story because I saw her poster for 'The Foundation for a Better Life' in the Denver airport. Any time I would come in or out of town, I would see her face. It seemed to be so crazy that I could play her in the film," she said.

Robb got the role, along with two great supporting actors, Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid, who play Bethany's parents. "The real inspiration for my role came straight from Bethany herself," she said. "She taught me that no one can do anything for you except you, yourself."

Robb also had the challenge of having one of her arms tied behind her back throughout the film. The digital team then rubbed out her real arm and turned it into the stump of the severed arm, with which she had to do everything. "It really taught me to confront things that don't go the way that I plan them," said Robb.

• Soul Surfer releases on July 29.