Jessica Cox, a Filipino-American motivational speaker advocating the adaptability mindset, was born without arms.
Read: Fil-Am Jessica Cox: Guinness World Records first armless pilot
She became known for conquering her fear of flying and being hailed by the Guinesss World Records as the first woman to fly an airplane with her feet.
She earned the record three years after she gained her pilot's licence on October 10, 2008.
According to the official website of Guinesss World Record, she "holds a Sport Pilot certificate, which qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet."
The aircraft called Ercoupe, a plane manufactured in the mid-1960s, is specifically designed with controls that allows a pilot to maneuver it with one's feet.
JESSICA COX: "God, why can't you just make me normal?"
Speaking at The Feast's Jewels Conference on August 17, 2024, Jessica said that the journey to that life-changing moment was not an easy feat.
She recalled a time in her young adult life when her condition was just too much to bear.
"Yes, I was still very frustrated and angry about being different.
"Yes, I had my wonderful mother, who was strength during difficult times.
"But when you're a teenager, you want to go out and you want to be independent."
Struggling with other people's perception of her, she elaborated: "And as I went out to the world, the world wouldn't respond in the way I wanted it to.
"People would stare. People would give me a hard time for being different.
"People would call me handicapped. 'Oh, you can't do it. You don't have arms.'
"And the staring was the hardest part about it.
"The staring, because my condition of being different, and people would stare at me, and that felt so isolating."
At one point, she felt so helpless with her condition that she had an emotional breakdown.
"It was a busy day. Everyone was shopping, kind of like the malls here, really busy.
"And I was trying to find my nana in the store, and I went up and down these aisles of the store looking for her, and I could not find her anywhere.
"And then I thought, well, maybe she's over there in the cash register line."
Jessica couldn't get hold of her nana and she started drawing attention from the crowd in the store.
"So I went over to the cash registers, and I started walking up and down the cash register lines, and I could feel everyone staring at me, and one after the other, after the other, after the other, and I was having a really bad day.
"And to be stared at made it all the worse.
"And I felt so angry, so frustrated, and so tired of being different, that I found this rack of clothing, and I went behind the rack of clothing, and I started to kneel down on my knee.
"And I had a moment. I was hitting rock bottom, and I said, 'God, why can't you just make me normal? Why did you have to give me this hardship?'"
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ON FINDING HER PURPOSE
Through sheer faith, Jessica pulled herself up and found her nana.
"I drove her home that day.
"And one week later, I was at the same exact store.
"This time, I was putting gas in my car. Yes, I gas up my car with one foot," said Jessica.
She raised her right leg and showed how she would use her right foot to hold the gas pump.
"I hold the gas pump like this, and I'm standing on my [left] leg. I'm by myself, gassing up my car, just waiting."
Then a stranger approached Jessica at the gas station.
She continued: "And all of a sudden, I feel like someone is walking behind me.
"And this person, a tall gentleman, walks up to me, and I turn around. And I said, 'Can I help you?'
"And he said, 'I just want to tell you something.' And tears are running down his cheeks.
"'Do you see the car over there on the other gas pump?' I said, 'Yes, I can see.'
"He said, 'Do you see my daughter sitting in the passenger seat?' I said, 'Yeah, I can see her.'
"'She just lost a couple of her fingers, and she was so down on herself. And then she saw you putting gas in your car without any arms.'"
The little girl who lost her fingers saw a ray of hope after seeing armless Jessica casually gassing up that day.
Jessica, for her part, realized a greater purpose behind her condition.
She emphasized: "And it was as if this moment was God telling me, 'You are more than the small ways in which you are thinking about your life. I will use you to inspire people who need hope.'"
Jessica went on to say that it was one of the many "God-moments" in her life when she was propelled to see joy amidst trying times.
"God is using each and every one of you in your very adversities, in your very difficulties, to help others, to be a witness of his glory.
"And we are so blessed, so fortunate to have such a profound faith, to have the Holy Eucharist, which gives me goosebumps every single time I share that with you.
"How blessed are we? How blessed are we to be a witness to the world of God's love?
"May you continue to be a witness to the world of God's love."
Jessica is now 41 years old.
Aside from being the first armless woman to fly a plane with her feet, she is also the first armless blackbelt in American Taekwondo Association.
She is also the author of the book
Jessica is married to Patrick Chamberlain, whom she met at a Taekwondo class.