Gerry Harding

Gerry Harding was the father of Sarah Harding and Jess Harding. He worked as a veterinarian at Jurassic Park.

## Biography

### Early Life

At some point in his life, Gerry Harding was married and had a daughter named Sarah. However, he and his first wife divorced. Later, he remarried, having a second daughter named Jessica. He had a degree in veterinary science, and worked with large animals at the San Diego Zoo. He lost touch with Sarah, and after he and Jess's mother divorced as well, he started to lose touch with his younger daughter too.

### Employment at InGen

Gerry was employed by InGen some time in the 1990s, due to his experience with large animals and veterinary practices. He was to work with the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and provide for their medical needs. Meanwhile, his second wife began seeing a man named Steve, who grew close with Jess and gave her driving and diving lessons without Jess's mother's knowledge.

During his time on Isla Nublar, Gerry mostly worked with herbivorous dinosaurs, and became one of InGen's leading experts on them.

### Isla Nublar Incident

In 1993, an endorsement tour was brought to Isla Nublar to determine if experts thought the Park was safe. Jess came to the island that same weekend, because her mother thought that Gerry might be able to discipline her for her shoplifting habits. Gerry briefly met the endorsement tour, consisting of Donald Gennaro, Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and Ian Malcolm, while tending to a sick *Triceratops*.

When he and Jess attempted to get to the boat to leave the island, they encountered Nima Cruz, who was wounded by a Troödon and nearly unconscious. They were able to save her, evading a battle between Buttercup and a *Triceratops* named Lady Margaret. At the Visitors' Center the next day they were able to get Nima the medicine she needed, but when she recovered, she held them as hostages. They learned that she was one of Isla Nublar's indigenous people, displaced by the building of the Park. She had them attempt to leave through the Bone Shaker rollercoaster, but they had to fight through a group of young *Herrerasaurus*. They were then rescued by Billy Yoder and Oscar Morales.

At Laura Sorkin's research station, Gerry became briefly trapped by Valkyrie's pack of raptors and they barely escaped into the maintenance tunnels. Pursued through the tunnels by the Troödon, Gerry escaped with Nima, and they met the others at the Marine Facility where Sorkin tried to release a tylosaur when Billy Yoder betrayed them. She was eaten, but Gerry, Jess, and Nima escaped and kept the tylosaur contained. They then faced Billy once more at the North Dock, and he was eaten by Buttercup. Gerry distracted the tyrannosaur to keep Jess and Nima safe, and ultimately he got to a boat and was able to escape with his life. He wanted to quit InGen after this and move to Dallas to be closer to Jess. Using the money left by Nima's contacts, he and Jess were able to help Nima get her daughter a good education. He was permitted to disclose minor details about his time on Isla Nublar to his family, but he opted not to tell the full story. Neither he nor Jess told Sarah everything that had happened on the island, so she went to find Ian Malcolm instead.

### Back to Jurassic Park

While Gerry started to reconnect with his daughters again, his time on Isla Nublar was not over. Through some unknown means, Henry Wu brought him back to the island when he attempted to reclaim it and build a new park. Once again Gerry worked as a veterinarian, but as he had lost his hat, many of the herbivores didn't recognize him and so they didn't trust him anymore. Robin Smith worked as his assistant. He learned about a supernatural virus called the Volatus Virus that was affecting female employees, causing them to transform into theropods.

### Isla Nublar Theropod Revolution

Alan, Ellie, and Ian encountered him in the field, having been working with the *Stegosaurus* which were suffering from diarrhea. At this point, Ian was seeing Sarah Harding, and he attempted to avoid Gerry because of this. He showed them inside the RV, where they found the missing Robin accidentally stuck in the meat freezer. Gerry described Robin as a good employee despite her eccentricity, and says that she gave creative answers on the job application. He sent the group toward the garage to find Wu.

Gerry encountered Alan and Ian again in the hotel, and Ian hid under a table to avoid him. Gerry was able to tell that Ian was there because his feet were still visible. While he did not call Ian out on this, he told Alan that he'd like to meet Ian sometime as Ian is dating his daughter Sarah.

## Trivia

* When Gerry shaved his mustache shortly before the Isla Nublar incident, he had to order a fake one from San José because the herbivores wouldn't trust him if he didn't look familiar. He wore it while he treated the sick *Triceratops* in the film.