Love to my brother and New Zealand

On the 16th of November in the Northern Advocate, there was a small article detailing that a 57-year-old mans’ body had been found at Rainbow Falls in Keri Keri and the death was not suspicious. This man was my brother, Richard Baldwin. Rich was a wonderful, caring, intelligent, funny and adventurous person who suffered sadly for most of his life with depression. The mental illness gradually constrained and diminished his life but he was always the lovely, gentle man he had always been.

Rich and I had grown up in England, our father served in the Royal Navy and we moved around a lot when we were young and our family moved to live in South East Asia when my father left the Navy and Rich was 12 years old. Rich followed my father’s footsteps in quickly becoming an avid scuba diver and sailor at the early age of 13. His love of the sea led him to become a marine biologist. In our early twenties, we moved to New Zealand and became Kiwis. He spent the rest of his life living between Auckland and the Bay of Islands and loved the people and country, making it his home.

Richard was an adventurer at heart having sailed and skippered yachts and dived on wrecks and reefs around the world. Anxiety had been an issue for him since we had attended boarding school at an early age and gradually this turned into depression, which towards the end of his life even made it difficult to leave his home. He systematically researched and tried every treatment and medication he could to beat this awful illness but in the end with the added isolation of Covid it was all too much.

I wanted to write this to ensure Richards’ life did not end as a footnote in an online article but with colour and story behind this amazing man. He is one of the strongest people I know and an inspiration to me. Another reason for writing this is to raise awareness of the impact Covid is having on families across NZ and the world. The virus kills directly and indirectly through isolation as in the case of my brother or by delayed treatment for others. I have been unable to come back and see Richard for the last 18 months, we had talked almost daily but I had not been able to hug him since the February before the lockdown when I visited. I still was not able to get back to be at his funeral or hold a memorial for him. Getting a vaccination is the only way for us to open again as a society, ensure our hospitals are not overwhelmed. It is critical for our children, families and communities. Please get vaccinated if not for yourself – then for the good of everyone around you.

If I was to live my life again – I would be a bird soaring free

If I was to live my life again – I would be a dolphin – flying through the sea

If I was to live my life again – I would be me – a maverick, kind and able to live my dreams completely

Please have a safe and happy 2022

From Lizzie Burton and all our family