When Sara Duncan appeared on ITV’s breakfast show this morning she knew she would be talking to the presenters about her battle with breast cancer.
What she didn’t realise was that she would be receiving a proposal of marriage from her long-term partner and father of her two children.
Sara and her fiance Craig Etchells, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, were on the red Daybreak sofa to talk about a touching video they had posted on YouTube.
They had filmed their six-year-old daughter Lola cutting her mother’s hair to help her come to terms with the effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. The video quickly became an internet sensation after they posted the footage online to share it with their friends and family.
Sara decided to leave her bald head uncovered for the Daybreak interview.
Craig revealed during the couple’s chat with presenters Kate Garraway and Dan Lobb that he had taken 15 minutes of footage and then cut together the most special moments.
He said that the response from the public had been overwhelmingly positive. He added that coping with Sara’s cancer had brought the family closer as a whole.
‘I’m really proud of Sara,’ he said.
‘The way it has brought us together has been phenomenal. I think it has brought out the best in both of us and our family.’
Shifting in his seat, and looking a little nervous, he continued: ‘I planned to do something on the London Eye later this morning, but if I can I’d like to hijack 20 seconds to do something special?’ he asked Kate, who readily agreed.
Taking Sara’s hand and kneeling on the floor beside her he said: ‘Sara you are the bravest most beautiful girl I’ve ever met in my life.
‘I spoke to your dad yesterday and asked for his blessing and he said yes.
‘Make me the happiest man in the world. Will you marry me?’
Barely had the question popped out of his lips then Sarah responded: ‘Yes’.
As the TV crew clapped, the video panned around to the presenters to show a sheepish Dan shedding a few tears.
‘Who else needs tissues? I’ve absolutely gone!’ he exclaimed.
It was a happy event during a difficult time for Sara. Earlier she revealed that she had undergone four sessions of chemotherapy since December and had two more to go.
She will then have three weeks of radiotherapy followed by five years of hormone treatment.
‘The last one was horrendous,’ she said.
‘I had lots of side effects but having so much support and the children… helps keep you going.’
Sara, 44, was told she had breast cancer last September and underwent a mastectomy on her left breast in October.
When she began losing her hair after starting chemotherapy, she decided to cut it all off – and asked Lola for help, so she could start to understand ‘how mummy will look’ after the treatment.
Sara agreed to be filmed as Lola, with the utmost concentration, gently cut lock after lock and carefully placed them in a ceramic bowl.
The video then shows Sara helping her little girl use an electric clipper to remove the remaining strands of her brown bob.
Sara a breastfeeding support worker, said of the video: ‘Lola cutting my hair off was very cathartic. We were both laughing. We made it into a happy, giggly positive thing.
‘After it had finished it was sheer relief – one, it was a decision made, and also it wasn’t as bad as I thought and the dread was over.
‘All my friends said really positive things, giving me confidence.’
Craig, a former sound engineer and producer, filmed and edited the video.
Sara, who has a degree in photography, carefully selected the clothes, background and lighting for what was originally intended as a tender keepsake for mother and daughter.
Their family and friends were so moved by the three-minute film they urged the couple to use it for charity.
They posted it on YouTube and have linked it to a ‘Just Giving’ donation page, which they hope will raise up to £100,000 to be split between ten cancer charities.
Craig, 40, said previously: ‘I put it all together and realised the impact it could have.
‘It’s a very personal moment and it was very brave of Sara to let it go but we thought we might be able to do some good with it so put it on YouTube.
‘We were trying to help Lola understand what it all means. At first it was difficult for her to watch the video without getting upset but she now knows it’s for a good cause.’
The couple have two children together, Lola and her brother Finn, nine, and four boys between them from previous relationships – 16-year-old twins Charlie and Rory, Jake, 18, and Oli, 22.