SAN CLEMENTE, CA—In awe of the woman’s resilience, sources confirmed Friday that 23-year-old Maya Franklin had achieved her goal of becoming a professional surfer despite surviving a shark attack as a teenager that resulted in the loss of her head. “No one thought Maya would ever surf again after that shark took her head—honestly, people were just relieved she survived, as she had lost quite a bit of blood,” said a source close to Franklin, who described how the young surfer had not only returned to the sport after just six months of physical therapy, but had risen to become one of the most celebrated and one of the very few headless surfers. “A lot of people told her, ‘You can’t surf, you’re decapitated!’ But Maya didn’t listen. With no brain, no face, and not much more than a nub of a neck, Maya managed to win contest after contest, proving herself perfectly capable of time and time again holding her own with competitors whose heads were firmly attached to their spines.” At press time, sources acknowledged that in addition to her athletic career, Franklin was also an incredible public speaker.