If you ever thought that having a disability would crush your dreams, Jessica Cox is here to remind us all that when there is a will, there is a way.
Born in 1983 without arms, due to a congenital malformation, the beginning of her life outlook was bleak. But that didn’t stop her from living. She was determined to not allow anything to pass her by and learned how to use her feet for everyday things that the rest of us would use our hands for.
From a very young age Jessica’s approach to life was incredibly optimistic. “I was blessed with parents, who gave me the extra attention I needed,”, Jessica says. Her mother became her biggest booster, often saying, “There are no limits to what you can do and who you can be.”
At the age of 14, she made the decision to give up on her prosthetic arms in order to, according to her, prove to herself that she could do whatever she put her mind to. She learned to use her chin and shoulders instead, and as the years went by, Jessica gained a dexterity in her feet and toes similar to fingers and arms. So much that she started training in martial arts, and although she liked Taekwondo (literal translated as hand-foot art), her dream was to one day be able to pilot a plane.
“The word impossible really means ‘I’m possible’,”, Cox often says to enthusiastic audiences. She has been delivering this message of positivity as a motivational speaker even before she earned her Guinness World Record.
In 2005, Jessica graduated from the University of Arizona and started taking flight lessons, by controlling the yoke with one foot and the throttle with the other. By 2008 she was fully licensed and became the first armless pilot in history.
“When I first took over the airplane without the instructor,” she says, “it was the most incredible moment – the greatest feeling of freedom, empowerment and independence in my life. I looked down and saw that playground where I sat, imagining all those years ago. I had accomplished my childhood dream.”
Jessica’s story proves that, despite our circumstances, we can always choose to follow our dreams and make the best of the cards we were dealt. Like she says:
“Life is 10% what happens and 90% how we respond, to get the most out of our lives, we must be fearless.”
We hope that this demonstration of sheer human resilience and will-power can inspire you as much as it did inspire us. One of the core meesages of MY NU WAYS! Programs that we will keep on sharing with you is that either you can take a passenger seat and watch life passing you by or you can take the driver seat and driver seat and drive it yourself
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