Sam was a friend of Ally Gorman, who met Carmel Valentine in July 2012. Carmel was left with permanent facial scarring after a tanning lamp exploded in her face which severely knocked her confidence. Sam and their other friend Jimmy were immediately welcoming of Carmel, joking about her when she noticed that Jimmy had no legs. The trio convinced Carmel to join them in a game of poker, in which Jimmy joked about Sam only having one arm. The meeting helped boost Carmel's confidence upon Ally making her realise that she had already been out and met new people.