In city hurt by ‘Yolanda,’ armless pilot inspires

Armless Jessica Cox, a pilot, has become an inspiration to countless of others with disabilities. —PHOTO FROM COX FACEBOOK PAGE

TACLOBAN CITY — It was an hourlong documentary that touched students who watched it on Monday.

One of them was Abigail Aguirre, 15, who said “Right Footed,” a documentary about pilot Jessica Cox, who has no arms, inspired her.

“If she was able to achieve so much despite her physical limitations, how much more myself, an able-bodied person,” Abigail said after watching the film by acclaimed American director Nick Spark.

“It would be a shame if I fail in life considering that I am a complete person, physically,” Abigail said.

This was exactly the message that Spark wanted to impart through the documentary on Cox.

“Right Footed” was shown to students at the Tacloban Convention Center.

Cox, who lives in Arizona, was born without any arms due to a rare birth defect but overcame it to become a pilot and be able to drive her own car.

She also lobbied vigorously at the US Congress for concurrence with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

She travels around the world to speak on disability and become an inspiration.

Spark said he learned more about Cox while doing the film for three years.

It was completed in late 2014.

“This film is really made for anybody who is facing a challenge,” Spark said in an interview.

“It’s all about what is inside people and how they can use their inner strength to achieve things,” Spark said. “You just have to believe in yourself,” he added.

Spark said that while doing the film, he saw Cox as “one of the toughest people I ever met.” “I just want to tell her story,” the director said.

Spark described a scene in the film showing Cox meeting a blind girl in Ethiopia as one of the most poignant parts of the documentary.

Narrating the scene, Spark said Cox allowed the blind girl to “touch her feet and her entire body — her face and shoulder without arms.”

“That moment, the girl suddenly connects with Jessica,” said Spark, an Emmy winner. “To me, that’s one amazing moment,” he said.

Part of the film also showed Cox visit her mother’s home province — Eastern Samar — and Tacloban City after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) pummeled these areas in 2013.

Her mother, Agnes, is from Guiuan, Eastern Samar, one of the areas hit hardest by Yolanda.

“Right Footed” will be shown in selected theaters in Metro Manila under the auspices of the US Embassy.

Spark said he hoped the film would cause a paradigm shift in society’s attitude toward persons with disabilities.

“The lesson here is that a person with disability can achieve as much or more than an able-bodied person,” he said.