Filipino-American Jessica Cox, who was born with no arms, did not restrain herself from learning some skills and getting to live not just an average but extraordinary life.
What makes her amazing? At the age of 10, she started studying taekwondo and got a black belter rank four years after. At the age of 17, she got a license and discovered how to drive using her feet to control the steering wheel.
At the age of 22, she considered of taking flying lessons and earned a pilot license three years later. She even held a Guinness World Record for being the first woman to fly an airplane with her feet.
Cox, at the age of 34, was able to do open-air activities including:
Surfing
Scuba Diving
Horseback Riding
She was also able to learn the art of doing everyday activities, such as typing 25 words a minute with her toes, tying her shoe lace, brushing her hair, brushing her teeth, putting contact lenses in her eyes, and putting her makeup on, among others.
As for her hobby, she knows how to play the piano.
Cox, who is in Arizona, said she was capable to do anything that she could think of by trying hard and training until she learned the skill.
“I think society often tell people with disabilities that they do not have the capability to do things…but to me, the more you practice something, the better you get at it,” she said.
Cox said that these accomplishments will not happen without the help of her family.
Cox’s father, 76 years old, is a retired band teacher, while her late mother was a nurse. She has an older brother, 36 years old, and a younger sister, 31 years old. Both are able-bodied.
“As a child, I would ask my mother why God created me this way, and my mother would reply it was because God has a great plan for me,” Cox said.
She revealed that without her “wonderful parents,” she will not be the woman she is today.
Currently, she chooses up another activity and is now studying to do the skills of slacklining. It is an act of balancing yourself or stepping on a suspended length of flat webbing. It is similar to tightrope walking.
“I like the challenge of doing something new and figuring it out. And for me, there’s also this extra element of knowing nobody has ever done this without their arms,” Cox said.
Cox is a psychology graduate of the University of Arizona. She is married to Patrick Chamberlain, 32 years old, a former taekwondo instructor and now her manager. They have no children yet.
She got thousands of speaking engagements inspiring people about her disability. She also has written her autobiographical self-help book entitled “Disarm Your Limits,” which has sold about 6,000 copies.
There is also a documentary about Cox’s life entitled “Right Footed,” which was aired in more than 80 countries.
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