Miles apart but still firm friends

This week’s reunion pictures, which feature in Chris Porsz’s Reunions II book, are of two friends and off duty nurses.

Chris said: “Nurses Claire Reilly (left) and Dympna van den BentKelly (nee Kelly) were photographed in Bridge Street in 1987. They worked with me in A&E at Peterborough District Hospital when I was a porter.’’ Dympna said: “My friendship with Claire goes back many years. We attended the same Roman Catholic School, where I was in the year above her.” Dympna joined Peterborough District Hospital in 1985.

She added: “Claire was working in A&E where she put in a good word for me which led to me securing a job alongside her.”

In 1990 Dympna got married to Paul, who came over from the Netherlands to work as a doctor at the hospital. Claire attended their wedding.

Dympna had twin boys in 1994 and, after returning to A&E for a few months, she took up the post of Senior Lecturer at Homerton School of Health Studies. Dympna, who is now retired, said: “Claire and I would always try to see each otherwhenever she came home. To me it is an uncomplicated, unconditional, loyal friendship that has never changed. ”

Claire started working at PDH in A&E in 1981 and stayed until 1993. She moved to Saudi Arabia and worked in A&E for the Saudi military. She travelled all over the world working in A&E departments and now works advising on the clinical practice of healthcare IT Security.

Claire, now lives in Florida, but regularly returns to Peterborough to see family and friends, and said: “In the original picture Dympna and I were out shopping for items for a fundraiser we were doing for medical equipment. We bumped into Chris, who we knew as he was a porter, and asked him to take our photo.”