WSMVYou're never really off duty when you're a paramedic—just ask Sarah Ray, who responded to an accident on her wedding day!
The bride and groom, who also works as an EMT, were on their way to their wedding reception when Ray learned her grandmother, grandfather and father had been in a car accident. "We got a phone call saying they had been in wreck," Ray tells WSMV, an NBC affiliate based in Clarksville, Tenn.
The newlyweds, who met while working on the job as paramedics, knew they had to respond. "The first thing I did was hop in the back of the ambulance with my grandmother to check on her," says Ray. "She was there with the paramedic and EMT that responded."
In that moment, Ray's mother snapped the now-viral photo of her daughter responding to the crash in her white gown. "The picture is me going, 'Really, Mom? You're taking a picture right now?'" says Ray.
Fortunately, all of Ray's family members are expected to recover. Although her grandmother and grandfather had to be treated at the hospital, her father (who was also injured) made his way to the reception anyway.
As Montgomery County EMS Chief Jimmy Edwards tells WSMV, Ray and her husband both "kind of exemplify what it is to work in EMS, because you're always on duty."
Ray isn't looking for recognition, though. "A lot of people have used the word hero when they're talking about the story, and I don't like it," she says. "I don't feel that I was being heroic in any way. It's just my family was in an accident. I needed to make sure that they were there, and it just so happens that I'm a paramedic and that I was in my wedding dress, and that's all there is to it."
One thing's for sure: She certainly had a memorable wedding day!
(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)
On another note, watch the video below to find out why Misty Copeland wants a low-key wedding day.