00:05 JESSICA: I didn't see my not having arms as
being a limitation.
00:18 COMM: Jessica Cox was born without arms due
to a rare non-genetic birth defect.
But this hasn't held her back from driving a car, gaining a black belt in Taekwondo,
playing the piano, scuba diving, and becoming the world's first licensed armless pilot.
00:37 JESSICA: Naturally people saw the fact that
I didn't have arms as a limiting factor, but I was there to prove them wrong.
00:46 COMM: Now she travels the world as a motivational
speaker with her husband Patrick.
00:52 PATRICK: If I had to describe Jessica in three
words it would be kind, positive and unstoppable.
01:02 COMM: Even as a child having no arms proved
no obstacle to Jessica.
01:07 JESSICA: As a young little girl I was in just
about everything.
At three my mom had me in gymnastics, at six I started tap dance lessons.
At ten I started Taekwondo.
I did modelling, I swam starting at the age of five.
I did every activity you could imagine.
01:30 COMM: She tried wearing prosthetic arms from
the ages of three to fourteen, but hasn't used them since.
01:37 JESSICA: There's nothing that can substitute
the tactile ability of flesh and bone and my feet have the tactile ability to feel if
something was hot or smooth or rough.
It was just a lot easier to be able to make those connections with the feeling my feet
provided.
01:57 COMM: Despite her adventurous spirit, she'd
always been afraid of flying.
Until she had a life changing experience.
02:05 JESSICA: One day a fighter pilot came up to
me and he asked if I wanted to fly in a single engine airplane.
That idea wasn't something that I was too enthusiastic about.
But he encouraged me, my dad encouraged me and I gathered up my courage.
02:22 JESSICA: I was sitting right beside the pilot
and he asked if I wanted to experience putting my foot up on the yoke, and when I did and
when I had a feel for what it was like to handle that airplane I knew I wanted to become
a pilot.
02:35 COMM: However, there were a number of challenges
to overcome.
02:38 JESSICA: Who would teach me, what type of
airplane, was this realistic, would this be safe?
Of course the safe and realistic part I didn't even consider because I knew if I wanted a
pilot I was going to do everything I could.
I had to find an airplane that had less controls than the average.
02:55 JESSICA: So the Air Coupe airplane which is
a 1945 has two less rudder pedals on the floor that way I could have my right foot on the
yoke, my left foot on the throttle, and criss cross and fly the airplane safely.
The airplane was not customised in any way for me.
03:11 COMM: In 2008 her determination paid off when
she became the first licensed armless pilot in the world.
03:19 JESSICA: Three years, three different airplanes,
three different flight instructors.
Eighty hours of flying in three different states, I was a certified pilot.
It was a long ordeal.
03:31 COMM: Five years ago the 32-year-old met husband
Patrick Chamberlain through their mutual love of Taekwondo.
03:39 JESSICA: I remember looking across the room
and seeing him with this confused look in his face, he later told me it's because he
thought I had arms but they were in my sweater.
03:51 JESSICA: Patrick and I work as a tea, but
he loves to cook but I do the dishes.
We balance each other out in different ways.
04:00 JESSICA: Thank you, good morning!
04:03 COMM: Together they promote Jessica's motivational
speaking which he hopes will inspire others to overcome obstacles, like she has.
04:11 JESSICA: And if there's something you want
to do, don't let anything stop you, with that you must be persistent.
Think about the last time you said, I can't.
04:20 JESSICA: Patrick and I work together to be
able to motivate people.
He is a very crucial part of my presentation.
I get to be the one in the spotlight and in front of everyone but it would not happen
is Patrick wasn't back there eliminating the challenges of the media tech and all around
manager.
04:42 PATRICK: We have some very interesting adventures
on our travels.
04:49 PATRICK: It's a constant adventure and it's
a lot of fun.
And while children may be in their future, for now they plan to continue inspiring others.
04:59 JESSICA: If we did have a child without arms,
we wouldn't hesitate because I've been able to live my life just fine without arms.
As far as we know it's not a genetic condition.
We have many years to spend together and start a family.
We've been talking about continuing to travel the world and bring the motivational speaking
to other countries, and help change some attitudes about disability.