Living without Chase: Louisa Baldwin reflects on a tough year and keeping the memories alive

While most of us had our struggles during 2020, Louisa Baldwin's year was an absolute shocker.

In February, she lost her dearly loved 14-year-old son Chase Ewing when he drowned in the Whanganui River and, despite that tragic loss, she has been an essential worker at Countdown during the months of Covid-19 restrictions.

"I have got through the year by keeping busy and doing all I can to keep Chase's memory alive. His friends have been amazing at keeping in touch with me and helping with that," she said.

"Keeping busy and doing things that Chase would have enjoyed throughout the year has helped me and my husband, Gavin. My family and friends have all been amazing."

From an early age, Chase loved visiting Oceanview Speedway and when he was just 4, he raced a peewee class stock car.

"He always wanted to become a stock car racer and he never lost that dream," Baldwin said.

"He can't do that now but I wanted to do something to help other kids who shared his dream and create a legacy for Chase by doing that."

With a group of friends, Baldwin launched Racing Amongst the Stars - Chase's Memorial Scholarship to help other young racers achieve their dreams.

Money raised from the sausage sizzle held at Majestic Square after the 2020 Whanganui Christmas Parade contributed to the scholarship and the first winner is 12-year-old Angus Mulholland, who races in the youth ministock class for 12- to 16-year-olds at Oceanview.

"It's not about supporting the best racer," Baldwin said.

"It's about helping a child who loves the sport as much as Chase and giving them a bit of help towards their dream.

"Angus was chosen this year because he has worked hard already and we knew that he and his family would really appreciate it."

The annual scholarship will be awarded to a new recipient each year and Baldwin said it is a perfect way to honour her son's memory.

Another way Chase has been honoured by his family and friends this year is with "Remembugs".

The worldwide project was created in 2019 to help grieving families by creating a painted pebble and a poem to accompany it, explaining this is a special rock and is made in the memory of someone. The rocks are then left in public places for people to find and take on their travels. Photos of the remembugs are then posted to Facebook so loved ones can follow their journeys.

"Chase's remembug travelled all the way to Scotland," Baldwin said.

"He would have loved that."

In November, Baldwin had a persistent migraine headache and a friend urged her to get checked at Whanganui Hospital.

"I was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and was admitted to hospital where I ended up staying for a week," she said.

"It was good in a way because it forced me to have a rest and I really needed it.

"When I'm at home I always have to be doing something and while I was in hospital I had to stay in bed which turned out to be just what I needed."

Christmas has been a tough time for Baldwin as it was especially loved by Chase, and his sister Stevie Ewing was unable to make it home from Australia this year.

"She needed to be here and I needed her here so that was really hard.

"My other daughter Baille lives in Whanganui so she was here but it was hard to have two of my children absent for the first time this year."

After such a tough year, Baldwin still manages to find her silver linings and proudly shared a vase of summer flowers from her garden.

"I was so pleased to see these pop up this year," she said.

"Gavin's parents built this house in the 1960s and I think some of these may be from bulbs that his mother planted."

Liz Wylie
Whanganui Chronicle 2/1/21