新闻万花筒：美国女子天生无臂却成就了得【上海学生英文报】

Armless Pilot to Be an Inspiration

Earning a black belt in martial arts and being issued a pilot’s license are both impressive accomplishments that take years of effort to achieve, but 30-year-old Jessica Cox has done both despite being born without arms.

Cox has learned to do everything with her feet. Against all odds (尽管有极大的困难) but with strong faith and the help of her family, she put herself through high school and then college, typing papers with her toes. She became the first armless black belt in the American Taekwondo (跆拳道) Association and now has two black belts. She got her driver’s license and then, astonishingly, her pilot’s license in 2008. The feet earned her a place in the Guinness World Records, which recognized her for becoming the first person without arms to fly an airplane.

Now Cox is the subject of a new documentary, Rightfooted, which Cox says she hopes will inspire disabled young people around the world. “Had I watched a film similar to this one earlier in my life, I know it would have made a difference,” Cox says in a trailer for the documentary.

The young woman says her current goal is to become a motivational speaker, particularly for other children born without arms. She says she believes her message can reach millions of people working to overcome a variety of disabilities.

As the next step in that quest, she has been invited by non-governmental organization Handicap International to work with disabled children in Ethiopia (埃塞俄比亚).