NEWS

Photo of paramedic bride in wedding dress goes viral

Stephanie Ingersoll
USA TODAY NETWORK – TENNESSEE

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Sarah Ray's wedding day took a very unexpected turn after her grandmother's car collided with another on the way to the reception.

Ray rushed to the scene, hiked up her wedding dress and climbed aboard the ambulance to see what she could do.

After all, that's what she does.

Ray is a paramedic, and a photo of her leaving the scene of the crash in her wedding dress has gone viral. She's been interviewed by Nashville news stations and Inside Edition and has fielded calls from national news services and websites such as BuzzFeed. After being posted on Montgomery County's Facebook page Friday, the photo had more than 12,000 likes and 5,300 shares and had reached 1.4 million people by Monday morning.

She can't understand what all the fuss is about.

"I just hate that everyone uses the word 'hero,' " she said Monday. "It's not heroic. That's just what we do every day, and it was family. I believe any other first responder would do the same thing. It just happened that I was in a wedding dress."

The crash happened at the intersection of 101st Airborne Division Parkway and Trenton Road on Oct. 3, just a mile or two from the church where Ray got married that day. Her grandparents and parents stayed behind to help her get all of her belongings from the church and take a few last photos before going to the reception across town.

Her grandparents and father left in one car. Ray's mother, who is a professional photographer, and her husband were with her when the call came that her grandmother was in a wreck.

"The car was totaled, that's all we knew," she said. "We hopped in the car with my sister and her husband and headed to the crash."

Once there, she saw her father and grandfather walking around, so she knew they were OK. She boarded the ambulance to find that her grandmother had some bruising caused by the airbags but was not seriously injured. The paramedics on the ambulance had the situation under control, but Ray offered the kind of comfort only family can.

Sisters Lauren Whitman and Sarah Ray kiss their grandmother, June Irish, after Ray's wedding Oct. 3.

"The first thing she said to me was, 'Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry I ruined your day,' " Ray said.

But Ray's day was not ruined. Her family was OK, and she hopped out of the ambulance, ready to go to her wedding reception.

She was walking on the side of the road with her skirts gathered in her hands in a light rain as her mother took a photograph of her with the ambulance and a firetruck behind her.

"She's giving me that look, like 'Really? You're going to take my picture now?' " said Ray's mother, Marcy Martin. "It was just about the contrast — the beauty of her and then the chaos in the background."

Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services paramedic Sarah Ray is photographed at the scene of a wreck on her wedding day. The photo, taken by her mother, has gone viral.

Ray and her new husband were a little late to their reception, which just happened to be attended by many co-workers who also are first responders.

EMS Chief Jimmie Edwards was there. He had heard there was a wreck involving one of the wedding guests, and he wasn't surprised that Ray would stop to help.

He was surprised by the reaction the photo of her garnered a week later, after it was posted on the county's Facebook page with a message that said, "How dedicated are you to your job? Sarah Ray, paramedic with Montgomery County Emergency Medical Services, was photographed on her wedding night working the wreck of one of her wedding guests. Now that's dedication ... she stopped to assist on the way from the wedding to the reception! Thank you, Sarah, for loving what you do!"

Sarah and Paul Ray are interviewed by WSMV on Monday morning. It was one of several broadcasts they did as her wedding day photo went viral.

The EMS station was fielding media calls from all over Monday. Ray and her husband — who also is a paramedic — were a little overwhelmed with all the attention, Edwards said.

"She exemplifies our profession," he said. "She is an excellent paramedic. Personally, she's a very humble and compassionate person."

Her husband, Paul Ray, wasn't in the photo that made his wife a viral celebrity but was cheering her on quietly, amused by the attention being lavished on his new bride.

"I'm just a husband in the background," he said. "It's been a mostly positive thing. We appreciate the support."

The two didn't take a vacation. They didn't even take time off. They went right back to work, at different stations and on different shifts.

"We're not going on a honeymoon," Sarah Ray said.

"Not this year," Paul Ray said.

The two are waiting for things to go back to normal, even as they marvel at the places where the photo has shown up, including a very popular women's magazine, which shared the county's Facebook photo.

"It's just been a whirlwind," Sarah Ray said.

Sarah and Paul Ray took a detour but made it to their wedding reception.


Reach reporter Stephanie Ingersoll at 931-245-0267 and on Twitter@StephLeaf.