The character arc of Jessica Cox

A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record

Born on 2 February 1983 without arms, due to a rare birth defect. Between then and now sit prosthetic arms worn until she was fourteen and then abandoned, feet learned as hands well enough to drive an unmodified car on an unrestricted licence and type at twenty five words a minute, a black belt, a psychology degree from the University of Arizona in 2005, a first flight in a single engine aircraft in 2004, a scholarship, three years of training, and a pilot's certificate issued on 10 October 2008. The line below draws the story so far, in order.

Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.

Who is Jessica Cox?

No aeroplane was built for her. She found one that fit.

She was born without arms because of a rare birth defect. She wore prosthetic arms until she was fourteen and then stopped, and has not used them since. What she uses instead are her feet, and the record's list of what she does with them is the fastest way to understand her: she drives an unmodified car on an unrestricted licence, types at twenty five words a minute, pumps her own petrol, and puts in and takes out her own contact lenses. She is also a certified scuba diver.

She is the first armless black belt in the American Taekwondo Association, and she graduated from the University of Arizona in 2005 with a degree in psychology and a minor in communications.

In 2004 she flew in a single engine aeroplane for the first time, through a programme that takes children flying. She got a scholarship to train, and trained for three years. On 10 October 2008 she earned her pilot's certificate, qualified to fly a light sport aircraft up to ten thousand feet, which made her the first licensed armless pilot in the world.

The aircraft matters. Her certificate is for an Ercoupe, an aeroplane designed in the 1940s and built without rudder pedals; the rudder is interconnected with the ailerons through the yoke. Nobody has ever built an aeroplane for a pilot with no arms. She found the one type, eighty years old, whose designers had happened to remove the control she could not reach, and learned to fly it with one foot on the yoke and the other on the throttle.

The moments

Jessica Cox's timeline.

The 1980s

2 Feb 1983

Born without arms

Setback, and it changed everything. A rare birth defect, and no arms at all.

The 1990s

1 Jan 1997

Keep the prosthetics, or not

Crossroads, decided.

The paths laid out: take them off, taken, or keep wearing them. She became a black belt, a scuba diver, a graduate and the world's first licensed armless pilot.

Jun 1997

She stops using prosthetics

Milestone, and it changed everything. Fourteen years old, and she took them off for good.

~1999

Feet as hands

Milestone, and it changed everything. An unmodified car, an unrestricted licence, and her own contact lenses.

The 2000s

~2002

A black belt

Milestone, and it changed everything. The first black belt that association had awarded to anybody without arms.

Jun 2004

Her first flight

Milestone, and it changed everything. One trip up in a small plane, and that was that.

May 2005

A psychology degree

Milestone, and it changed her direction. A degree in psychology, and a minor in communications.

Sep 2005

A scholarship, and three years

Milestone, and it changed her direction. Three years of lessons, paid for by a scholarship.

10 Oct 2008

The first armless pilot

Milestone, and it changed everything. A pilot's licence that had never been issued to anybody like her.

11 Oct 2008

An aeroplane from the forties

Milestone, and it changed everything. An eighty year old design with no rudder pedals, which is why it works.

She is still flying, in an aeroplane older than her parents. What she set moving is the certificate itself, which had never been issued to anybody without arms before she went and earned it, and which now exists as a precedent.

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Hers meant finding the one aeroplane in the world whose controls happened to fit. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.

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Jessica Cox: frequently asked questions

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What is Jessica Cox's character arc?

A girl born without arms who wore prosthetics until she was fourteen and then took them off for good, learned to do everything with her feet, earned a black belt and a psychology degree, and became the world's first licensed armless pilot.

How does Jessica Cox fly a plane?

With her feet. Her certificate is for an Ercoupe, designed in the 1940s and built without rudder pedals, the rudder instead interconnected with the ailerons through the yoke. She controls it with one foot on the yoke and the other on the throttle.

What can Jessica Cox do with her feet?

Drive an unmodified car on an unrestricted licence, type at twenty five words a minute, pump her own petrol and put in and remove her own contact lenses. She is also a certified scuba diver and a taekwondo black belt.

When did Jessica Cox get her pilot's licence?

On 10 October 2008, after three years of training funded by an Able Flight scholarship. She is qualified to fly a light sport aircraft to ten thousand feet, and had first flown in a single engine aeroplane in 2004.

Did Jessica Cox use prosthetic arms?

Until she was fourteen. She has not used them since, choosing instead to use her feet as most people use their hands, which is what made everything from the black belt to the pilot's certificate possible.

What did Jessica Cox study?

Psychology, with a minor in communications, graduating from the University of Arizona in 2005. She began flight training the same year, funded by a scholarship, and earned her certificate three years later.

Where does this timeline of Jessica Cox's life come from?

From the public record. Character Arc drew every moment on this line from the sources listed at the foot of the page, and the kind and weight of each moment are our editorial reading. Jessica Cox isn't a Member of Character Arc and has no connection with it, and no feeling is attributed to her.

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Sources

Jessica Cox, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
Federal Aviation Administration records for her Sport Pilot Certificate of 10 October 2008 and the aircraft type.
University of Arizona records for her 2005 degree, and American Taekwondo Association records.