Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Remarkable Jessica Cox to visit Ethiopian project

(Feb 12, 2013, Handicap international)--Handicap International will host Jessica Cox, the first person without arms to obtain a pilot's license—in Ethiopia in April 2013. Thirty-year-old Cox, who was born without arms, will visit the charity's inclusive education project to speak with children with disabilities and their peers about how to “think outside the shoe.”

Her visit will be filmed as part of the documentary RIGHTFOOTED, which tells the story of Cox's life and her desire to redefine what it means to be disabled. The visit will reinforce Handicap International's on-going efforts to foster the inclusion of children with disabilities in Ethiopian schools, and to help change long-held societal beliefs about the role of people with disabilities.

Handicap International runs inclusive education projects for children with disabilities in 20 countries, with a long-term goal to see the children included socially and economically. Cox has achieved more using just her feet than most other people dare to aspire to.

She achieved a black belt in Taekwondo when she was 14, and earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Arizona by typing papers with her toes. She always dreamed of becoming a pilot, and in 2008, after years of persistent effort, she achieved this goal by soloing a single engine 1946 415C Ercoupe Airplane.

Cox loves adventure sports—rock climbing and snowboarding to name a few—and she just made her first sky dive in January. Cox is named in the Guinness World Record for being the first woman to fly an airplane with her feet. Read more from Handicap international » 

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