When Louise was only a couple of years old, her family life was already quite chaotic. Various siblings had come and gone, and Lou and Cheryl’s relationship had reached an all-time low after she spent several weeks being held hostage by a guerrilla group in South America, turned to another of the hostages for comfort and struggled to return to her normal life back in Australia. Realising that things could never go back to normal, Lou left Erinsborough to get his head together and Lolly waved her dad goodbye. But, within months, she lost her other parent – but she had nobody to blame but herself. When Lolly wandered into the road, having spotted a dog on the other side of the street, a distracted Cheryl didn’t notice her until she was in the middle of the street, in the path of an oncoming car and, as she raced out to grab her little girl, Cheryl was run down, her injuries proving fatal. Though the loss was difficult, Lou returned and soon Lolly had some stability back, being looked after by him and Marlene, as well as Cheryl’s eldest son, Darren, who had returned to the family fold, a reformed character after a spell in prison. Over the next few years, Marlene and Darren were replaced with various friends and lodgers, including mechanic Drew Kirk, who grew particularly close to Lolly and would often babysit while Lou worked.