‘Amazing’ dentist dies after car crash

A much-loved Collingwood dentist has died after a car crash in Marlborough on Tuesday.

Christopher John Ledger, 80, has been named by police as the sole victim of the crash near Ward on State Highway 1.

For the past 18 years, Ledger had been the proprietor and dentist at the Golden Bay Dental Centre. Originally from England, he arrived in Golden Bay after taking early retirement from dentistry in the United Kingdom in 2000.

Ina Golden Bay Weekly article from 2016, Ledger said he arrived in New Zealand ‘‘with a backpack and a little money in my pocket’’, taking on a locum position at the dental clinic in Golden Bay.

Ledger also ran a backpackers in Collingwood with wife Hiromi, and a taxi service from the Golden Bay end of the Heaphy Track.

Longtime friends Adrian and Margaret Maloney said Ledger was a man who ‘‘put everyone else first’’.

‘‘He accomplished so much and will be sadly missed,’’ Margaret Maloney said. ‘‘Wherever there was a need he could help with, he would be there.’’

Golden Bay Dental Centre colleague Nicki Moyle said Ledger was an ‘‘amazing community man’’.

Moyle, who had worked at the clinic with Ledger for the past 17 years, said Ledger had only retired three weeks ago, selling the practice after he had turned 80.

‘‘Everyone in Golden Bay is really grieving, because he kept going to 80 just to look after us, at the clinic and in the community. He was a such a generous, giving and kind community man. He could have retired years ago, but he just wouldn’t do that to Golden Bay.’’

Marlborough road police supervisor Barrie Greenall said the crash happened about 100 metres south of St Oswald’s Church at Wharanui, south of Ward, about 4pm on Tuesday. Ledger was the only person involved in the crash, which happened when his vehicle left the road and collided with a small brick structure. The cause of the crash was not yet known, but police inquiries were ongoing.

A spokesperson for Ledger’s family said they were requesting privacy. Messages of support can be emailed to laura@matukufunerals.co.nz.