Always in his corner: Lakewood community 'Chase Strong' for student, wrestler

HEBRON ― It began with a home football game against U.S. Route 40 rival West Muskingum, continued with an away contest with Liberty Union, and moved on to a special day at the Boatyard at Buckeye Lake. It was still going full bore by the time Fairfield Union came to Calhoun Memorial Field for Week 3.

An "orange wave," like a giant lake, has washed over three counties in support of Lakewood senior wrestler Chase Townsend. In late July, he was diagnosed with leukemia, and orange is the color associated with the blood cancer. He's fortunate to have Lancers' assistant wrestling coach Roger Atwood, and many others, in his corner.

Atwood himself is in remission from a rare form of Hodgkin's lymphoma and endured his ordeal a few years ago with another of his wrestlers, Dane Black, who had carcinoma in his groin area and also is in remission. He knows the amount of support he received and is passionate about making sure Chase knows he's not alone in his fight. But Atwood and Townsend's families had no idea what would come about.

"This is personal to me, knowing this is what I went through, and my experiences," Atwood said. "There are dark days, and I know what would help get me through those. That's why I'm taking as many pictures as I can, and showing Chase just how much people care and that he's not in this alone. This is really special to be a part of. I've never seen this many people come together for a common cause."

They began selling "Chase Strong" wristbands at the home season opener against West Muskingum. Atwood was astounded by the support received from the visiting Tornadoes' fans, parents and students. "We sold as many, if not more, than we did to Lakewood people," he said. "All that support, from people who didn't even know him."

Even that didn't prepare him for what was witnessed the next weekend at Liberty Union. "It was their home opener, but it sure felt like a home game for Chase," Atwood said.

A woman named Shauna Kennedy noticed Atwood's post on Facebook, and things were put into motion by the Lions. It turned out that Liberty Union head football coach Dan Shirey's daughter had also had leukemia.

"Liberty Union's athletic director asked us to come to the game (to sell wristbands)," Atwood said. "The first thing we see, when we walk into the stadium, was a giant "Chase Strong" sign. It kind of set the tone for the whole evening. I will cherish those memories forever."

On a table, already set up, were orange ribbons and orange ribbon stickers. There was a box to collect gift cards. Hundreds of Liberty Union fans had orange ribbons attached to their chest and there were even little kids with ribbon stickers on their faces. Lions' players had ribbon decals on the back of their helmets, the cheerleaders had stickers on their faces with orange hair bows, and the student section had a "Chase Strong" sign up front. Coach Shirey hugged Chase's aunt, Carmen Townsend Potts, and as Lakewood wrestlers and Chase's sister Alexis watched, the students came down with even more hugs and bouquets of flowers.

Townsend Potts and her husband, Don Potts, have taken over the care of Chase and Alexis following the deaths of their parents in the last couple years.

Liberty Union's athletic department said it would donate its portion of the 50/50 drawing to Chase's cause. Then, a school board member won it, and he also donated his winnings back. Following the game, the football team signed a "Chase Strong" sign to give to him, and the coach's daughter gave the family a letter for Chase.

Things were just getting warmed up. After that, a Guest Bartender Night with Licking County Sheriff Randy Thorp, race car driver Michael Shank and Geoff Smith was held at the Boatyard at Buckeye Lake. Combined with an enormous amount of quality auction items and donations, more than $74,000 was raised at that event. Atwood, his cousin Amy Gower and his sister Frankie held a bake sale at Pizza Cottage in Buckeye Lake that raised more than $3,400 during Mopar Nationals. Head wrestling coach Terry Cline has also provided tremendous support. Teresa Smith, the owner of S&F Photography, made and donated a "Chase Strong" poster.

It was then "Orange Out" night for the next home game with Fairfield Union, and Lancers' Stadium was bathed in a sea of orange, between orange decals on helmets, cheerleaders dressed in orange "Chase Strong" T-shirts and the "Blue Crew" student section wearing the color. Chase's aunt, attired in an orange shirt, did the coin flip for the game.

"It was quite a moment," she said. "I think people had all these orange shirts just lying around at home, that they usually never wore, and brought them out for this night."

Carmen Townsend Potts and her husband have provided stability in the lives of Chase and Alexis after a turbulent upbringing and switching many school districts in the Columbus area. Carmen's brother, and Chase and Alexis' dad, Eric Townsend, died in November 2021. The kids' mother, Brandy Foster, died in September 2020. Don and Carmen have five children of their own.

Chase and Alexis, now a freshman, transferred to Lakewood from Hamilton Township, where he took up wrestling. He had shown promise last year for the Lancers and had prepared for a big senior season.

"He had totally committed in the offseason," Atwood said. "He had put on muscle with weightlifting, good weight, taken private lessons, had gone to open mats, and attended camps. He was reaching his goals. He's a straight A student."

But on July 24, Chase had been feeling really sick, and he was taken to the emergency room at Nationwide Children's Hospital. He was diagnosed with lesions on his brain and in the back of his eyes. "He was so bad when he got there," Carmen said. "The white blood cells had taken over and he had like 580,000 of them."

Generally, a count of more than 11,000 white blood cells is considered high for adults.

He spent five weeks in the Intensive Care Unit before he was able to come home, where he was visited by Cline, Atwood and Lakewood principal Kevin Krier. "It was good to see him smile because he hadn't in a while," Atwood said.

Now, Chase is in and out of Nationwide Children's with chemotherapy treatments. The first round was 29 days and the next round is 59 days. His immune system was down and they had to wait for it to come back up, so it was delayed for a few days. He has been struggling, and COVID was even thrown into the mix at one point. "When he went back into the hospital, he wasn't eating and drinking," Carmen said. "He was up over 130 pounds, and he's down to 103. He has IV therapy, and Don has to give him shots in the leg. I shaved his head, and I was crying, because he looks just like my brother, when he died. It's been very emotional."

Atwood and the Ronald McDonald House across from the hospital have provided immeasurable support to the Townsend family as Chase continues his treatments. "Roger has been a godsend, not just to Chase, but to us, emotionally and financially," Carmen said. "Everything has helped so much. It's been amazing. The gift cards that were collected, we use them all the time because we have to eat out so much, and we normally were a stay-at-home and eat dinner family. I showed Chase some of the pictures, and he started crying. He didn't know that many people cared about him."

Chase has been asking some tough questions as he contemplates his future.

"Lately, it's been 'Am I going to be normal again?" Carmen said. "He only needs like three credits to graduate, but we're talking about him still going back next year. This is a kid who had his future planned out. He wants to go into the military, into the Air Force for IT, but to do that, he'll have to be cancer free for three years."

Whatever his future holds, wrestling likely will be in the picture.

"His goal is to be an assistant coach," Carmen said. "He watches wrestling on YouTube all the time and knows all the moves and everything behind them. It definitely keeps him going."

GoFundMe page

There is a GoFundMe page on Facebook, called "Chase and his family," that was started by his cousin Sarah Minkos.

There is also a Facebook page, called "Chase Townsend updates," that was started by the family.

dweidig@gannett.com

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Twitter: @noz75

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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Lakewood wrestler with leukemia receiving tremendous support