James Royal Fox, Jr. was born 1965 , in south Tillamook County, Oregon. He was afflicted with Osteo Genesis Imperfecta, a rare disease more commonly known as brittle bone disease.

A series of operations began when he was seven, intended to straighten his legs that he might someday walk.

For some reason Jim believes is the Lord’s, his upper body was much less affected by the brittle bone disease. As the little boy grew, he developed a strong upper body.

Jimmy began to lift weights and devised a series of workouts for himself when he was eleven years old. He explained what drove him at that age,

“Even before we can form words as toddlers, we observe the world around us. For those with congenital birth defects it is apparent from those first observations that we are not like others. Those with brittle bones grow up in a world we cannot play in, for fear of breaking a bone. Those with osteo genesis are short. We notice that too. Our shortcomings, you might say, are on full display. So, when I got complimented on the strength in my upper body, it profoundly encouraged me.”

Meanwhile, however, he continued to break bones in his legs because he tried to do “normal” kid things, that were for him, inherently dangerous.

Something drove that little boy. Wayne Woods, who has been friends with Jim since they were eight years old, said this about his disabled childhood friend,

“Jim faced every obstacle head on without fear, sometimes belligerent and even more determined after he was told no.” 

By the time he was twelve it was clear to Jimmy he would never walk, and he began to dream of a life without his legs. But it was a secret wish he only told his closest friends.

“I remember that. It wasn’t easy to grasp because no one knew your pain or frustration with so many surgeries. You were strong in recognizing the truth.” Wayne said, many decades later.

At eighteen years old, with a lump in his throat, Jimmy found himself in a position he could ask doctors at Shriners Hospital in Portland, Oregon to amputate his legs. He reasoned unemotionally it was his only chance to live a normal life.

After a staff meeting a month later in which everyone at Shriners who had ever cared for Jim concurred, it was decided to remove his legs.

Taken off one at a time two weeks apart, he required two units of blood and by the time the second leg came off he had become addicted to morphine. A few days after his final amputation, he was taken off morphine and had to cope. 

From the first time Jim lifted himself out of that hospital bed, he encountered a world he could suddenly participate in. But more than that, the uncommon strength of his upper body combined with the amputation of his legs transformed Jim. He lost 15 inches of withered, emaciated ballast that weighed about 20 pounds, and became a new man. 

Like a phoenix he rose from what may have been, to what he willed to happen.

The new Jim Fox had no legs that could be broken. He weighed 94 pounds, could bench press 350 pounds and had a grip strength nearing 300 pounds; nearly triple in those aspects from peers in his age group. 

He learned to swim a month after his last leg was removed, with the help of a mentor who happened to be a Vietnam veteran and double amputee.

The next month Jim began to ride three-wheel ATV’s. That fall, he began journalism classes at Mt. Hood Community College.

Six months after Jim had his legs taken off, he was playing as a point guard with the Portland Wheelblazer basketball team.

He fell in love.

Jimmy Fox had grown up unable to take part in so much that finally when he was able, he became fearless.

If life were an apple, Jimmy took half the fruit in one bite.