Armless Fil-Am woman pilot Jessica Cox afraid of flying?

Jessica Cox, a Filipina-American born without arms and the first and only pilot in the world who flies using her feet, has always been afraid of flying. “It’s been my greatest fear, just to ride in an airplane," Cox said in an interview with anchor Howie Severino of GMA News TV's "News To Go." However, her fixation with the thought “of being up there" enabled her to summon the courage to take flying lessons six years ago. Cox, who was born without arms, made the Guinness book of World Records after earning her Lightweight Aircraft License on October 2008. Cox said she and her instructors were surprised when aviation authorities—who they thought “would be afraid and worried about safety"—decided to give her a chance. Flying lessons She has learned to fly an “Ercoupe," one of the few planes without rudder pedals, which enabled Cox to use her feet as hands—her left on the throttle and her right on the yoke. Unlike others who got their license in six months, she had to train for “three hard years" with three flying instructors, using a “stock airplane"—or one that has no special modifications. “The first time my instructor let me take the controls, I remember being terrified, but I was hooked immediately… it’s the most fantastic feeling in the world," Cox told "The Telegraph" after she secured her license. A certified pilot is allowed to fly a plane whenever he wants and even without a passenger, she explained. “[When] they saw that I could safely maneuver this plane, they said, ‘Well, if she can fly this plane safely, if she can pass our exams and our requirements, then there’s no reason to hold her back,’" Cox shared. ‘All with my feet’ Born in 1983 to an American music teacher and a Filipina nurse, Cox—the couple's second daughter—had a rare birth defect that rendered her armless. Recalling her childhood, she said that “from day one, this is all I’ve ever known," so it came natural for her to do everything using her feet. “I had my feet—I didn’t have arms, I didn’t have hands—so naturally, as an infant [and] as a child, I learned to pick up things with my feet… I did it all with my feet. My feet became my hands," Cox told Severino on “News To Go." Just as most people use just one hand for many tasks like writing and throwing, Cox uses her right foot, and even named her web site after it, rightfooted.com. However, she went beyond the usual tasks of everyday life. At age 10, she decided to take Taekwondo lessons, and earned her first black belt four years later—around the same time that she decided to stop wearing her prosthetic arms. “I wasn’t comfortable wearing [them] and I’m comfortable [being] who I am," she said. Cox also dipped into things that some people with arms can’t do—she is the first documented person without arms to scuba dive. Aside from that, she surfs, drives a car, dances, and even plays the piano. As a grown-up, she has learned to put on her make-up and contact lenses with her feet. She also secured her second black belt in Taekwondo when she was in college, making her the first woman without arms in the US to do so.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Support system Moving through life without arms may seem like a daunting task for a child, but the 28-year-old speaking about it didn't seem fazed, which she said she owed to how her parents raised her. Cox said her family “never made me feel like I was any different." She added that she grew into the person she is now because her father, William, "did not see me as a victim." Meanwhile, Cox said she got her fighting spirit from her mother, Inez Macabere, who left for the United States at the age of 22 without telling her family in Eastern Samar. “She taught me everything you want in life, you have to work for. She taught me that through the Filipino culture… through her upbringing. She [lived] a hard life… so she had taught me by example," she said. Despite growing up in Arizona, Cox developed strong ties with her family here in the Philippines, who she tries to visit “as often as I can." ‘The sky is not the limit’ Cox, who holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona, currently works as a motivational speaker, which she considers as one of her greatest achievements. On her website,Cox wrote that she put up the Jessica Cox Motivational Services “to finally take my place in the spotlight and speak to thousands of people worldwide about how I overcome obstacles everyday and how those thousands can overcome their obstacles." She started talking in front of primary students, with speeches on persistence, creativity, and fearlessness. Since then, she has faced a number of crowds, including those at the American Military and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association in the US. During her month-long vacation here in the Philippines, Cox has been scheduled to give a series of motivational talks. She spoke at the Makati Shangri-la last Oct. 27 and is expected to talk about "Overcoming Daily Obstacles" at the Ateneo de Manila University's Escaler Hall on Nov. 8. Asked to give her kababayan some words of advice, the Fil-Am said Filipinos should not let their fears get in the way of opportunities. “Sometimes our greatest obstacle is ourselves. Sometimes we say ‘I can’t do something.’ But in reality, if we say we can, we can. The sky is not the limit," she said. - VVP, GMA News