Scottish Ambulance Service: Falkirk paramedics find love on the frontline

The 31-year-old from Denny initially joined as a technician working out of Falkirk Ambulance Station in Grangemouth Road before completing her training to be a paramedic last year.

On her first day on the road as a technician she was paired up with Sam Craig, 33, and romance blossomed with the couple eventually marrying last month.

Courtnay said: “I always thought that love at first sight was a myth – but it really happens. We just clicked and got on really well. We worked together a lot and had some pretty difficult jobs that we dealt with together which only made our bond stronger.

"For the first couple of months, we kept in touch away from work by messaging each other but then in the April we began dating. But it wasn’t until a few months later that we told everyone at the station and they were really pleased for us.”

Sam has been with the SAS for eight years and Courtnay for four, with both going through their paramedic training at Glasgow Caledonian University together. And it was on the last day of their course that Sam popped the question.

"We had been talking about it and originally he had planned to do it on Hogmanay but I wanted to tell all our family and friends at Christmas. My mum had given Sam a ring that was like a family heirloom: my nana and papa gave it to her for her 30th birthday. It was a sapphire surrounded by diamonds but he had the sapphire swapped for a ruby which is my birthstone,” said Courtnay.

The couple were married on October 6 at Eden Leisure Village in Cumbernauld. “It was the only venue we looked at and we knew straight away it was for us,” she added. “Everything went smoothly on the day and we had a great time.”

She admitted that there wasn’t much traditional about their wedding ceremony, preferring to do things their way, even arriving together. However, Sam did walk down the aisle first with his two children, Tommy, 8, and Lizzie, 4, before Courtnay followed with her dad. “That was the one traditional part,” she said. “We had a warming of the rings where they were passed round everyone before being exchanged. We gave the children the job of bringing the rings back to us.”

Joining them on their special day were their parents, Linda and Jim Prattis, and Lisbeth and John Craig, other family and friends, and of course, lots of colleagues from the ambulance service.

The couple spent their honeymoon on the Greek islands of Mykonos and Santorini but are now back at work. Courtnay said although they are not normally crewed together, thankfully their shift patterns still allow them to spend time together.

Looking forward, Courtnay said: “We’ve both been such good support for each other through Covid and working on the frontline. We both know how lucky we are to have each other.”