Anne Welsh

Anne’s fascination with managing pain began early in her life. Experiencing constant pain herself, she felt compelled to find a solution and learn how to embrace it. She realized the importance of not only enjoying the good days but also finding ways to cope with the challenging ones. This led Anne to dedicate much of her time to researching and developing strategies for navigating painful days.

In her youth, Anne was particularly close to her family. Their patience, encouragement, and unwavering care deeply inspired her, reinforcing her belief in the power of people to help you through tough times.

At 21, Anne found herself unable to attend university due to the impact of her prolonged sickle cell illness. Captivated by the idea of seeking help, she began talking to fellow patients in the hospital and exploring ways a supportive community could help her secure a better life. She reached out to anyone and any organisation she believed could aid her journey toward being pain-free. At that time, Anne thought being “painless” meant never experiencing pain. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t quite crack the method for achieving it.

During a particularly tough health challenge that caused her to miss a work trip, Anne found herself feeling deeply unhappy and frustrated in the hospital, unsure of why this was happening to her. Her doctor, noticing her disappointment, spent two hours talking with her. That conversation changed her perspective. She realised that life is a journey, and everyone has their own pain, each person coping with it in their own way. In that moment, Anne understood that instead of focusing on reasons to complain about our pain, we should search for reasons to keep believing—even when nothing seems perfect. It was then that the concept of “Painless Universal” was born.