December 31, 2025Interview

Living With CRPS: How Luiz Built an Adaptive Exercise Business & Community

When we first connected with Luiz, it was impossible not to feel her energy straight away. She’s warm, grounded, funny and fierce. She's the founder of a business that's designed to lift others up, all while living with complex, painful, invisible disabilities herself.

Her story is one of long-term pain, late diagnosis, and learning to build a life centred around movement, community and joy, without ignoring the hard stuff. We’re so proud to share her story!

“Community & Connection Run Through Everything I Do”

I’m Luiz, I’m 40, a proud Yorkshire lass, and the founder of Kronik Warrior UK CIC and The Inclusive Edit.

When I’m not coaching, creating stories, or travelling to spotlight inclusive spaces, you’ll usually find me with my family, they’re my anchor, my joy and the reason I keep going. I love a brew, a laugh, and planning little adventures with the people who keep me grounded and inspired. Community, creativity and connection run through everything I do, whether I’m editing a podcast, writing a feature, cheering someone on in class or just having a quiet moment with the people I love.

“I Wish The Diagnosis Hadn't Taken 20 Years”

My health story is… not simple.

My knees and I have basically been in a disagreement since childhood.

I had problems from a very young age, but no one could really tell me why. I loved sport, I was active, but I was also managing leg pain from about age seven. By fifteen, I had to stop dancing, swimming and all the things I loved because the pain was too much. I just wish the diagnosis hadn’t taken more than twenty years to arrive.

Fast forward to my late twenties, I was a serving police officer, juggling chronic pelvic pain, back pain and recovering from my third knee surgery. Further scans finally showed a form of hip dysplasia and damage in my lumbar spine that was affecting the nerves to my legs.

In 2015, I had surgery on my right hip. It failed, and I developed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a neuropathic pain condition I’d never heard of. I had to learn about it fast.

I walked into that surgery thinking I knew pain.
What came after was a whole new dimension.

CRPS meant that any new invasive treatment, from nerve blocks to more surgery, came with the risk of spreading CRPS symptoms. Over time, the damage in my spine progressed into osteoarthritis in both my cervical and lumbar spine, so now my neck and arms are affected too.

I honestly cannot remember the last day I lived without pain.

Day to day, I deal with:

Debilitating neuropathic pain
Burning sensations like the blood in my legs is constantly boiling
Extreme temperature changes in my limbs
Spasms
Incontinence
And bonus side effects from medication like hair loss, short-term memory issues and speech glitches

Anything from the weather to stress to overdoing it can set my symptoms off. Every day has its own “personality”, and sometimes its own plot twist. Through it all, I stay connected, try to keep my humour close and remind myself that I’m still me, even on the hardest days.

"Finally Someone's Designed Mobility Aids With Real Disabled People In Mind"

I don't think NHS crutches have changed much in 30 years. They’re clunky, noisy and brutal if you need them long-term. The pressure through your hands, shoulders and neck is not the one.

I then tried another brand that shifted the pressure away from my neck and shoulders, and to be fair, they did that really well, but they were so heavy and bulky that in some ways they were just as inaccessible.

Then I saw Cool Crutches on social media.

First, the designs got me (obviously). But what really sold me was the moulded handle and the bicep wraparound cuff. You can move your arm more freely when you’re not actively walking, without your crutch crashing to the floor or taking someone out in Tesco. It genuinely felt like someone had finally designed mobility aids with real disabled people in mind.

Switching to my Green Camo Cool Crutches has made a huge difference. I can use them for longer because they’re more comfortable, lighter, and much kinder on my neck and arms. I use my wheelchair for most things outside the house, but I always bring my Cool Crutches with me. They give me that option to get up and walk when I can. I’ve always believed in “use it before you lose it”, so being able to get on my feet, even for short periods, helps me keep my legs working, my confidence up and my sense of independence intact.

"Strength Looks Different On Every Body"

Looking after my mental health is a mix of things, but movement is right in the centre of it. I’m a big believer in making healthy choices where we can; food, fresh air, boundaries and good people. Kronik Warriors plays a huge role in that for me. Coaching our community, moving together, and proving daily that strength looks different on every body, keeps me grounded and inspired. Being outside is a lifeline. Some days, it’s just pottering in the garden. Other days, it’s rolling through the Yorkshire hills with the wind on my face, feeling like I’m in my own adventure film. Both do wonders for my brain.

I absolutely believe movement should be a priority for people living with disabilities or chronic illnesses, but only when it’s the right kind of movement.

That might look like:

Low-impact mobilisation
Gentle stretching
Seated or adaptive boxing
Or a full-on HIIT-style workout if that’s your thing

It’s about being guided by your own body and learning the difference between injury pain, condition pain and simply working muscles that aren’t used to moving. We’re often scared of making things worse and that fear can keep us frozen. Working with someone who understands disability, an adaptive coach, physio or PT, can be a massive help.

It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s version of exercise. It just has to help you feel a bit more like you.

My Tips For Other Disabled Warriors:

🧠 Listen to your body, not the pressure
Your body will tell you what it needs. Rest is productive. Breaks are allowed. You don’t have to prove your pain or your worth to anyone.

🦯 Aids & adaptations are freedom, not failure
Crutches, sticks, wheelchairs, perching stools, shower chairs, they’re not a step back. They’re tools that give you more life, not less.

💜 Quality mobility aids make a huge difference
Cool Crutches changed everything for me: lighter, more stable, less pain in my hands, arms and neck, and the designs make you feel like a boss, not a medical case.

👌 Go hands-free
A good backpack or crossbody bag makes getting around with crutches or a wheelchair so much easier and safer.

📱 Use tech to your advantage
Voice notes, reminders, smart speakers. If fatigue or brain fog are in the mix, let tech carry some of the mental load.

🤸 Movement is magic
Not punishment, not “fixing” yourself, but gentle, guided movement that supports your body as it is now.

🗓 Plan rest like you plan activity
If you have a big day coming up, give yourself buffer either side. That recovery time isn’t indulgent, it’s essential.

👥 Find your people
Community is everything. Whether in person or online, connecting with other disabled people is powerful. There’s so much comfort and validation in shared lived experience.

❤️ Be kind to yourself.
Becoming disabled or living with long-term pain is as much an emotional journey as a physical one. There’s no right way to do it, only your way.

"We became the first adaptive boxing academy affiliated with England Boxing"

Kronik Warrior UK will always be the heart of what I do.

It all started in the first Covid lockdown. I put an online adaptive box fit class on social media because I knew people needed connection, movement and a bit of fire in their day. That one class became a community.
By April 2021, we became the first adaptive boxing academy affiliated with England Boxing. It still feels surreal when I say that!

Now, as a Community Interest Company, we:

Run accessible box fit sessions
Deliver education and workshops
Support disabled people and those with long-term conditions
Work with young people and adults
Run school programmes, community projects and events

Everything we do is about empowerment, movement, connection and choice.

Alongside that is The Inclusive Edit, which grew naturally from my lived experience. It's a platform that celebrates accessibility, inclusion and real stories from real people.

It involves:

Work with brands, hotels and organisations
Spotlight inclusive and accessible spaces
Share stories that deserve to be heard
Spark conversations about representation and lived experience

Managing both projects with a disability is a balancing act. Some days, I’m out filming in Yorkshire, coaching, recording, laughing with our community. Other days, I’m working from bed with a hot water bottle, editing podcasts and replying to emails between spasms. I work with my body now, not against it. And I’ve learned to protect rest without feeling guilty, because my community gets it.

Everything I do comes back to the same thing. I want people to feel seen, supported and celebrated. I want people to know that life does not end with a diagnosis, an injury or a difficult chapter. You can build, rebuild and rise again, and if I can help even one person believe that, then the work is worth every ounce of effort.

"There’s a lot happening, and I’m really excited about all of it"

Kronik Warrior UK has partnered with Goldthorpe Salvation Army to run free snack box and movement courses for a full year. That means more confidence, more movement and more support in communities that really need it.
Over on The Inclusive Edit, I’ve launched an interview series called My Life Without Limits, kicking off with the incredible Ben Lovell, founder of Amp Camp and a huge advocate for limb difference. It’s all about real people redefining what’s possible.
I’m also planning Inclusive Edit trips for 2026, both in the UK and abroad, spotlighting accessible travel, inclusive experiences and the stories behind them.
And for my fellow boxing lovers, there’s a brand new podcast series coming soon called Hooked, diving into the people behind the punches and how boxing can genuinely change and save lives.

Oh, and because I apparently don’t know how to sit still, I’ve also signed up to a half-marathon wheelchair push in April for Variety, the children's charity.

Luiz, you are an AMAZING woman. You are the definition of an inspiration. Thank you so so much for being so open with us, and for lighting up our screens and our lives. Keep being you, you're incredible.

If you would like to keep up to date with Luiz's journey, give her a follow on Instagram.

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