Flick Cox was awarded the British Pain Society medal of distinction in 2025 – one of only five recipients in its 50-year history and the only nurse.
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Obituary
Felicia Cox obituary
Gillian Chumbley
Fri 17 Apr 2026 17.54 BST
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My friend and colleague Felicia Cox, who has died aged 60, was an inspirational nurse leader who carried out pioneering work in pain management. She was editor in chief of the British Journal of Pain for more than a decade and a founder member of the Pain Nurse Network, which was originally for UK nurses and is now international.
Known to all as Flick, she was born in Launceston, Tasmania, the eldest of the five children of Junetta (nee Keep), an office worker, and Berkley Cox, a well-known Australian Rules footballer who played for Carlton in Victoria. As a young girl, Flick was given a nurse’s uniform – a white dress, red cape and nun-type headdress, which she took to wearing around the house. She eventually followed in the footsteps of her glamorous Aunt Suzanne, who was a senior nurse.