JESSICA COX

Jessica Cox was born without arms and has made accomplishments with her feet that most people can only imagine. Her success story serves as a lesson to never consider oneself a victim of circumstances, and her high level of self-acceptance is an inspiration to everybody. Jessica is a well-known inspirational keynote speaker all around the world. "Think outside the shoe," she says, as she shares vital insights on tackling and overcoming difficulties and turning them into opportunities with people all across the world.

Jessica, who was born in Arizona in 1983, encountered numerous doubts about her ability to live a "normal" life at the time. With the help of her parents and family, Jessica gained confidence in herself as an adult and continued to explore the world with her feet.

Jessica's parents met Jim Cunningham, a Taekwondo instructor. She achieved her first black belt in the International Taekwondo Federation when she was 14 years old.

Jessica received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Arizona after graduating from high school. She regularly emphasizes that psychological factors have a greater impact on people's lives than physical limitations.

Jessica discovered an American Taekwondo Association club and continued training in the sport throughout her undergraduate years. The instructors devised a curriculum that would be suitable for future armless students. Jessica went on to become the first person without arms to obtain a black belt in the ATA.

Jessica's most notable accomplishment, after three years of training, was learning to fly an unmodified aeroplane with her feet, making her the world's first-ever armless pilot. It took three states, four planes, two flight instructors, and a discouraging year to find the right aircraft: a 1946 415C Ercoupe airplane. She holds the Guinness World Record for being the first person to be certified to fly a plane solely with her feet.

For over a decade, she had the opportunity to utilise her success as the first armless pilot as a platform to initiate a conversation about disability. She found that individuals are willing to listen to an armless woman who has flown an aeroplane with her feet, so she took advantage of the occasion to show how people with disabilities can do great things if given the opportunity and assistance.

She travelled to 20 different nations to tell her story of overcoming the seemingly impossible. Children with impairments or disabilities were kept hidden from society and were denied the opportunity to attend school in many of these countries. Disabilities were once seen as a curse in some cultures. She was greeted like a celebrity in these very places, and her story opened minds to possibilities they had never considered for their own children. 

Despite the great leaps and bounds that human achievement has accomplished, such as soaring through the clouds, we still have a long way to go in terms of empowering people with disabilities. Until we conceived it in our thoughts, flying appeared unattainable. Let us use aviation as a tool to get off the ground and break down people's mental obstacles to disabilities. We must work together to improve their opportunities throughout the world. Under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the United Nations is working on a legislative solution 

Aviation has given her the ability to challenge stigmas and attitudinal barriers that exist all over the world. Flying gave Jessica much more than wings — it gave her a voice.