Our new Community Pain Champions!

Earlier this year, our team went on the hunt to find some new Community Pain Champions: a group of inspiring individuals to join Professor Cormac Ryan in our pain education mission.

We’re pleased to announce that six new Champs are now joining the team, and don’t worry: Cormac isn’t going anywhere!

Between them, our new team members have a huge range of experiences and expertise. Having more Champions will help us to put on more events, reach more audiences and raise awareness in new ways.

You can learn a bit more about our new recruits below…

Jagjit Mankelow

Originally from Hong Kong, Jagjit (known as ‘Jaj’) is a physiotherapist as well as a lecturer and researcher at Teesside University. Living in North Yorkshire, Jaj has been helping with Flippin’ Pain since 2021 (including driving our Brain Bus on tour!).

She is passionate about everyone having simple pain science facts at their fingertips so that they can live their best life free from fear of injury or harm.

Libby Parfitt

Libby lives in Hertfordshire and has been living with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) since 2011, when, for reasons no one understands, a simple fall somehow triggered the condition. Despite trying every medical intervention available with varying levels of success, she was eventually forced to accept that her pain was not going away, and somehow, she had to find a way of living with it.

This wasn’t an easy ask: CRPS took an immense toll, robbing Libby of her mobility, career and financial security. At her lowest ebb, she was offered a place on a pain management course based on the same principles as Flippin’ Pain. What she learned there not only saved her life, but also enabled her to start building a future once more. Libby now works as a freelance writer, most notably for a blog providing advice on all aspects of living with chronic pain. She also manages a support community for readers of the blog.

Chris Shepherdson

Chris (known as ‘Shep’) is a qualified physiotherapist and also works delivering pain services in the North East.

Shep has been a friend of Flippin’ Pain for some time now and is hugely excited to be supporting the aims of our public health movement. He is looking forward to taking his passion for all things pain science & management beyond a clinical setting and help to influence change at a much wider level.

Kai Dacosta

Currently living in Manchester, Kai has come to Flippin’ Pain after having both a personal and professional relationship with persistent pain. After a motorcycle crash caused lifelong disability, persistent pain, and the loss of a career as a mechanic at age 18, Kai decided to dedicate his time to understanding his own pain and disability through both the musical arts and pain psychology, performing across the country as a musician and spoken word poet. You can listen to ‘Suicide Hope’, a song written about his life with chronic pain, on YouTube.

Having recently finished his Psychology degree, Kai is directing the skills gained through his creative career and applying them to the world of public speaking and public health. As a keen advocate of all things health and well-being, kai also engages in regular gym workouts and yoga, tracking his progress on Instagram page.

Mahin Kohli

Mahin works as an advanced practice physiotherapist and independent prescriber for pain management in Wednesbury (West Midlands). He has a special interest in helping people develop non-medication strategies for their pain, hoping to reduce their long-term use of medications so they can move towards their individual goals and values.

Mahin wants to raise awareness of chronic pain and the different ways to manage it. This is the reason he has started his own YouTube channel, talking about pain management strategies. You can also find him on Instagram and TikTok.

Julia Gover

Living in the North West of England, Julia is a long-time Flippin’ Pain friend who qualified as a chiropractor in 2012. She now helps to run the specialist Pain Faculty for the Royal College of Chiropractors and is due to complete her MSc in Pain Science and management this year.

She completed her first Flippin’ Pain tour in 2021 and found it hugely rewarding, talking to the public, patients, and health care professionals about pain. She is particularly interested in how people’s understanding of their own bodies affects their relationship with pain, and even has her own TED Talk!

Cormac Ryan

Last but definitely not least, we have Professor Cormac Ryan, who has been working as a Community Pain Champion for 3 years now.

Originally from Offaly in Ireland, Cormac is Professor of Clinical Rehabilitation at Teesside University has been researching in the field of pain for almost 20 years. He now lives in North Yorkshire and will be continuing to work with Flippin’ Pain, bringing his trademark anecdotes with him.

It’s still early days, but you’ll start to see all of our champions popping up very soon. We hope you’ll join us in wishing them a huge welcome!

You can read more about each of our community pain champions on our ‘Meet the Team’ page.