“Flying by the seat of your pants” is an expression we’ve all heard and used before. But what about flying with your toes?

Jessica Cox does just that. Jessica was born in 1983 without arms. But instead of feeling like a victim and blaming her handicap for everything she can’t do, she decided to do everything she ever wanted to do, despite the fact that she has no arms.

The doctors still don’t know why she was born without arms, but it has never seemed to hold her back.

She is one amazing woman. Jessica is one of the most adventurous people I’ve ever read about. Whenever someone tells her she can’t do something, she makes it happen. As an example, she’s a third-degree black belt. Try that with no arms.

When is the last time you said you couldn’t do something? Think of all the things you do with your arms and how your life would change if you didn’t have them.

Jessica earned her sport pilot’s license in 2008 and has been flying ever since. She is the world’s first armless pilot.

She says she actually took on this challenge because she was afraid of flying and wanted to overcome that fear. She says that with every challenge, you must have the desire, and that desire is equal to 80 percent of her success.

She also drives a car with her feet. She can type and do things like brush her hair, feed herself, pump her own gas and put in her own contact lenses. She does everything with her feet and toes.

When Jessica speaks, she can’t help but motivate people. They look at all of the amazing things she has accomplished. First she had to overcome overwhelming odds, and then she set out to take on challenge after challenge and has succeeded in them all. Jessica changes everyone she meets, both “normal” and disabled persons.

Jessica, who has been motivated her entire life, won accolades from audiences as a child when she performed ballet. She has never looked back, has never allowed her disability to prevent her from doing anything she wanted, and is still as motivated as she ever was. The world is her oyster, and she’s the pearl. In one word, Jessica is a miracle.

Jessica is now married to her former Taekwondo instructor. She has graduated from the University of Arizona with a psychology degree and works as a motivational speaker and an advocate for the disabled. She is a woman who has accomplished much, has overcome the prejudice that many persons with disabilities have experienced, and is moving ahead in a world that might not quite yet be ready for such a woman with so much courage and conviction.

She has decided to go to Africa and work with children that have severe disabilities. She will be working with NGO Handicap International. If anyone can motivate these African children (called “Unwanteds”), Jessica can. This is her new mission in life.

The only time she regrets not having arms is when she meets someone new and she cannot shake hands. So she invented a “foot-five” instead of a “high-five.”

There is a documentary about Jessica Cox and her life [HERE], if you’d like to know more.

Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel is executive director of the Community Hiking Club and president of the Santa Clara River Watershed Conservancy. If you’d like to be part of the solution, join the Community Hiking Club’s Stewardship Committee. Contact Dianne through communityhikingclub.org or at zuliebear@aol.com.