Two police officers who were married had to pause their wedding photos to rescue a man who was hit by a car in downtown Ocala, Florida.
The man was thrown to the side of the road by the impact. The wedding party stopped to provide assistance to the victim, and the bride directed traffic in her wedding dress.
“A man was hit by a car in the downtown Ocala plaza,” the Marion County Sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post on Monday. “The entire wedding reception – fully dressed in wedding attire – responded and helped the injured man.”
The newlyweds, both MPs for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, were snapping photos at their wedding reception in December when the man – described by witnesses as a guest at another nearby wedding – was met.
A man is looked after by rescue teams after being hit by a car in Ocala, Florida while taking a picture of the bride and groom at his wedding reception.
Marion County Sheriff’s Office
Many at the wedding ceremony were members of the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and the Ocala Police Department, the company said.
Samantha Horne, the assistant sheriff of the wedding guest, held the man’s head to prevent further harm while the bride, Taylor Rafferty, assistant custodian, directed the traffic in her dress with a bouquet of flowers in hand.
The man was not seriously injured in the collision and was treated by medics before the wedding continued as planned, the sheriff’s office said.
A witness described the scene. “I saw the car hit him and it sounded awful. He rolled several times. It was awful to see,” the woman replied in a post on the Marion County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
“Brings new meaning to a memorable wedding day,” wrote another. “Heroes on duty and on duty.”
The sheriff’s office shared a photo of the incident, in which the bride signaled cars on the street while rescue teams from the Ocala Fire Department attend to the man on the floor behind her.
“When you choose a career in law enforcement, you choose never to be truly off duty because anything can happen anytime,” the troop wrote alongside the snapshot. “Deputy Detention Officer Taylor Rafferty and her current husband, Deputy Chris Rafferty, were expecting a typical wedding day, but their day was far from a normal wedding experience.”
The troupe praised the newly married couple and the members of their wedding party, who said “take action without a second thought to help everyone involved in this incident.”
