In memory of Belinda Harding-Perry

Friday 22nd February 2013, 

Today, will be a sad and difficult day for Belinda's family and friends.

We attend the funeral of a much-loved friend who spent many years in the dental world and who lost her battle with cancer at far too young an age last week.

RIP Belinda Harding-Perry.

We have thought long and hard about using social media to communicate these thoughts.  Knowing Belinda she would have wished us to I believe.

Chris and I first met Belinda about 20 years ago when she came to our dental practice in about 1993 as a 16 year old joining us straight from Newbury college to train as a dental nurse.

From day one she was a joy to work with.  No-one before or since has had her wonderful sense of humour and we used to love hearing about her trips to see Maud in full midlands accent. Belinda soon became hooked and interested in dentistry and the patients we looked after.  So she trained with us from scratch, went on to pass her dental nurse exams first time and then to continued her development, staying with us for about 6 years.

One of the highlights was when she was entered in The West Berks Training Consortium’s Award ceremony as the Trainee Most Likely to Succeed! A proud day indeed.

In those early years Belinda came very close to us, Chris in particular became like a close  aunt. All secrets were shared. Her triumphs and difficult moments and decisions were all confided in us.  In reality Belinda was like a second daughter to us.  She was about the same age as our son and a few years ahead of our own daughter.

I’ll never forget sitting knee to knee with Belinda as I placed my very first dental implant. 

I think she was shaking more than me- all dressed up in her surgical gear- she did freeze on the spot for a moment but then took to it like a duck to water.

We had lots of happy times at the practice then. As a small outfit, Belinda became a major part of what we were and indeed what we became.

Truth be told, when she left for pastures new we were taken aback (Chris actually cried!) but it was the right move for her to gain new experiences and meet new people.

Well she went on to become an implant tutor dental nurse for Boots and then her career moved on to the international stage with the Geistlich, after a spell at The Briars.

Through all this time we remained close friends.  Belinda and her family continued to come to us for their dental care, so we all kept in touch regularly.

We were with her at her 21^st party, her marriage to Daniel and Danny Jnr’s christening too. We were always included.

She was typically loving and generous when our own grandson was born and he  now attends the same nursery as Danny Jnr., on Belinda’s recommendation.

We continued to stay in touch socially and she even came round for some Twitter lessons to help give Belle Vintage Hire 

(@bellehire) a leg-up.  What a great achievement for her.

We are very proud of the fact that her involvement with the dental world came about through her grounding with us, taking nothing from her dedication, hard work and enthusiasm.

We saw her briefly about 10 days after her last operation, bouncy and optimistic as ever to the outside world at least. Hugs all round.

Chris and I feel hugely privileged to have known Belinda and in some small way been a part of her life and touched by it.

Belinda will always remain in our hearts. The world surely is a poorer place without her.

Chris and (Monsieur) Charon