Love in a crisis: The story of four SES couples who met on the frontline
Love can blossom in unlikely places: running a club, dating apps or rescuing horses during the deadly floods that ravaged Sydney and the Central Coast.
Belinda Jackson and Joel Harris’s love story doesn’t seem too typical: they met at a training event for the NSW State Emergency Service and Belinda plucked up the courage to strike up a conversation.
But Belinda and Joel, from the group at the Campbelltown unit in Sydney’s southwest, are among four couples who met at the ceremony and got engaged at the same time.
The couple said their bond had strengthened by coping with the disaster.
“In a rescue situation, it’s really special to be able to get on a boat with someone you can trust with all your heart. I can look at Bel and she knows exactly what I want to do, and vice versa,” said Joel, who has been a volunteer for nearly two decades.
“We know what each other is saying, it feels like second nature.”
Belinda, who joined SES in 2013, worked with Joel on the Hawkesbury floods of 2022.
“Joel was a face in the crowd within the Scouting movement, and when I showed up at SES training for the weekend, I thought, ‘I know that face, let’s strike up a conversation,’ and that led us to where we are today.”
The two got engaged after Joel popped the question on a cruise during golden hour.
“Wedding planning is in full swing,” he added.
‘I fell asleep in his arms’
Stuart Densham’s love story with Heather Woods needed a little disaster to get better, too.
Heather had rejected Stuart four times on dating sites before they met in person.
Stuart can still remember their first real-life meeting in Campbelltown.
“I saw her walking in for the first time and realized it was the woman who had rejected me three times,” he said.
“It was definitely love at first sight.”
Heather said she recognized Stuart straight away, adding: “That’s when everything clicked and I knew he was the one.
“Stuart asked me on a first date and it was so romantic I fell asleep in his arms.”
The couple will marry in November after the proposal was made at a surprise picnic in the Southern Highlands.
Newlywed Shawna Bradley, who met her now-husband Michael at the unit, fell in love with him on her first night of practice.
“The first night he came to training, we were demonstrating something for our rescue team and I thought I’d show off and fall on my ass in front of his face,” she said.
“He thought it was really funny, but I didn’t… I was trying to show off because I thought he was really cute.”
Michael, a Star Wars fan, got down on one knee on May 4.
Rose-Marie Salem and Shaun Goulding discovered their shared interests after meeting at an educational event and are now planning a wedding for 2027.
“We’re usually on the same team during storm events, but we’re definitely teammates and professionals. As soon as we’re done with this, we’ll go back to being a couple,” he said.
