Health -

• I’m genuinely proud of Sara, says her partner in touching tribute

By Claire Bates

Final updated at 12:37 PM on 22nd February 2012

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 did not realise was that she would be receiving a proposal of marriage from her extended-term partner and father of her two youngsters.

Sara and her fiance Craig Etchells, from Oldham, had been on the red Daybreak sofa to talk about a touching video they had posted on YouTube. Sara decided to leave her bald head uncovered for the interview.

They had filmed their six-year-old daughter Lola cutting her mother’s hair to assist her come to terms with the effects of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. The video speedily became an world wide web sensation following they posted the footage online to share it with their buddies and household.

Mr Etchells revealed during the couple’s chat with presenters Kate Garraway and Dan Lobb that he had taken 15minutes of footage and then cut together the most special moments. 

He mentioned that the response from the public had been overwhelmingly positive. He added that coping with Sara’s cancer had brought the family members closer as a whole.

‘I’m really proud on Sara,’ he mentioned.

‘The way it has brought us together has been phenomenal. I feel it has brought out the finest in both of us and our family.’

Shifting in his seat, and searching a little nervous, he continued: ‘I planned to do some thing on the London Eye later this morning, but if I can I’d like to hijack 20 seconds to do some thing special?’ he asked Kate, who readily agreed.

Taking Sara’s hand and kneeling on the floor beside her he stated: ‘Sara you are the bravest most stunning girl I’ve ever met in my life.

‘I spoke to your dad yesterday and asked for his blessing and he stated yes.

‘Make me the happiest man in the planet. Will you marry me?’

Barely had the question popped out of his lips then Sarah responded: ‘Yes’.

As the Television crew clapped, the video panned about to the presenters to show a sheepish Dan shedding a couple of tears.

‘Who else wants tissues? I’ve definitely gone!’ he exclaimed.

It was a happy event during a tough time for Sara. Earlier she revealed that she had undergone four sessions of chemotherapy because December and had two more to go.

She will then have 3 weeks of radiotherapy followed by five years of hormone therapy.

‘The final one particular was horrendous,’ she said.

‘I had lots of side effects but getting so a lot help and the young children… helps preserve you going.’

Scroll down for the hair-cutting video

Ms Duncan, 44, was told she had breast cancer final September and underwent a mastectomy on her left breast in October.

When she began losing her hair following starting chemotherapy, she decided to cut it all off – and asked Lola for aid, so she could commence to comprehend ‘how mummy will look’ immediately after the therapy.

Ms Duncan agreed to be filmed as Lola, with the utmost concentration, gently cut lock immediately after lock and carefully placed them in a ceramic bowl. The video then shows Mrs Etchells helping her little girl use an electric clipper to remove the remaining strands of her brown bob.

Ms Duncan, a breastfeeding help worker, mentioned of the video: ‘Lola cutting my hair off was very cathartic. We had been each laughing. We created it into a happy, giggly positive factor.

‘After it had finished it was sheer relief – 1, it was a decision made, and also it wasn’t as negative as I believed and the dread was over.

‘All my pals stated truly positive issues, giving me self-confidence.’

Mr Etchells, former sound  engineer and producer, filmed and edited the video.

Ms Duncan, who has a degree in photography, meticulously selected the clothes, background and lighting for what was originally intended as a tender keepsake for mother and daughter.

Their family and buddies were so moved by the 3-minute film they urged the couple, from Manchester, 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 in between ten cancer charities.

Mr Etchells, 40, stated previously: ‘I put it all together and realised the impact it could have.

‘It’s a very private moment and it was very brave of Sara to let it go but we thought we might be in a position to do some very good with it so put it on YouTube.

‘We were attempting to support Lola realize what it all implies. At 1st it was tough for her to watch the video with out getting upset but she now knows it’s for a good cause.’

The couple have two young children together, Lola and her brother Finn, nine, and four boys in between them from previous relationships – 16-year-old twins Charlie and Rory, Jake, 18, and Oli, 22.

YouTube: SaraLolaVideo

Andrew Burton/Associated Press

A few weeks ago, a friend showed up for a run with a CamelBak — one of those humplike backpacks with a tube that allows you to sip liquid — and a belt containing food to eat along the way. Every 20 minutes or so as we ran, he stopped to eat and drink, sprinting afterward to catch up.

Now that is unusual, I thought. Does it really help to eat so often during a 16-mile run?

Certainly a lot of athletes believe they need constant nourishment. My friend and running partner Jen Davis, who has entered more races and run more than I ever have, once went on a 30-mile training run with a guy wearing a CamelBak and bearing snacks. He stopped every 20 minutes along the way and then, about halfway through the run, pulled out a turkey sandwich.

“I’m not sure if he ever actually ran an ultra race,” Jen said. “He may have gotten injured after carrying that heavy pack on those long runs.”

There is no end to the crazy foods people will eat at endurance events. At the J.F.K. 50-Mile in Maryland, boiled potatoes and chicken broth are provided at aid stations. At the Rocky Raccoon Endurance Trail Run in Texas, runners can choose rice and beans or pasta, along with snacks like pretzels, cookies and candy.

At a 100-mile bike ride my husband and I have done several times, pumpkin pie is offered about 25 miles from the finish line. (My husband tried it one year and felt ill the rest of the ride.)

For the athlete determined to munch on the go, there are shelves worth of prepackaged “energy gels” and bars, even jelly beans, promising to raise performance.

But most athletes are not running 30 or 50 or 100 miles, nor are they doing the equivalent amount of exercise in another sport, like cycling or swimming or skiing. So most of us really do not need to keep eating during a race to maintain energy and stamina, said Nancy Rodriguez, a sports nutritionist at the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Rodriguez reviewed published studies on nutrition and performance as part of a group of experts who wrote a position paper on the topic for the American College of Sports Medicine. Runners, for example, competing in a 5- or 10-kilometer race, she said, “don’t need the CamelBaks and don’t need to have that Hershey bar or Powerade or Clif shot.”

Even athletes who are fast and competitive may not always need to eat during a workout. There’s no set rule on what they should eat and drink before, during and after exercise, said Melinda M. Manore, a sports nutritionist at Oregon State University who was an author of the position paper.

“People have gotten the message that they have to eat something,” Dr. Manore said. They guzzle an energy drink or eat a sports bar, but that doesn’t help. And for the many who are trying to lose weight, the habit just adds extra calories.

What they need depends on what they ate before they started and how hard their workout is going to be, among other things, she explained. “If you can run six-minute miles or five-minute miles and you are going out for an hour, you do not need to be eating an energy bar during the workout,” Dr. Manore said.

Moderate athletes need to eat and drink after the workout, she said, but a healthy meal with plenty of fluids is sufficient. Indeed, for most of them, the most common error is to eat too much.

Dr. Manore follows her own advice. She hikes for an hour in the hills every morning, four to five miles. All she has before she goes out is a cup of tea with milk.

But anyone exercising for two hours or more does need to get carbohydrates, the muscles’ fuel, according to the position statement. That means eating before, and perhaps during, the workout.

Those who try to skimp can end up with a poorer performance, said Daniel Bernadot, a sports nutrition researcher at Georgia State University. A long workout, like a run that lasts more than two hours, is “an enormous drain on blood sugar,” he said.

If the body runs out of glucose for fuel, it will start breaking down muscle, which is counterproductive. Dr. Bernadot’s research indicates that athletes do best when they never let themselves have more than a 400-calorie deficit during the day. That is, if you expend 1,500 calories on a two-hour run, you offset it with at least 1,100 calories in food that day.

That means it is a disadvantage to eat most of the day’s calories at one time — at night, for example. But athletes should make dietary changes gradually so their bodies can adapt to more frequent fueling, he said. Those who try sudden changes sometimes pay a price.

Dr. Bernadot tells the story of a distance runner who was doing well and felt great the morning of a big marathon. Before the race began, she saw her chief competitor put packs of a sugary gel into her running bra to eat during the race.

The distance runner did the same, even though she had never before eaten during races or long runs. It was a disaster: She had diarrhea during the event.

The gels “were anything but a competitive advantage,” Dr. Bernadot said.

“You have to let your body adapt,” he added. “And you have to find out what works for you.”