INSPIRATIONAL mum Mel O’Neill surprised guests at her Rainbow Ball at the weekend, by performing a dance routine with her two daughters.

The 43-year-old was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer seven years ago.

Mel was also involved in a car accident four years ago and had two bleeds on her brain meaning she had to learn how to walk and talk again.

Attempting to learn a three-and-a-half-minute dance routine was a daunting task for her due to her struggle with memory loss.

Mel, from Penketh, said: “I started learning the dance in September after taking up private lessons. I’ve always wanted to learn how to dance and my teacher, Becci Francis, was so encouraging.”

Her unsuspecting husband Carl had no idea what Mel and their daughters were planning for the night.

Mel said: “Becci suggested I performed the dance at the ball but I was too scared I would forget the moves, so I kept it a secret to not let anyone down.”

On the night, the audience was left in tears as Mel and her daughters, Lois, 12, and Darcey, 11, performed the surprise routine perfectly.

Just two years ago at the same ball, Mel was too weak to walk around the room and speak to guests.

She added: “My mum and dad were crying and so many people were taken aback at how far I’d come since the last ball.

“Three weeks ago, I was still getting the moves wrong, I was so frightened that I would mess it up on the night and so I’m really happy it went so well!”

Mel’s best friend Nicola organises the Rainbow Ball, with last weekend’s being the sixth since Mel was diagnosed.

The night raised almost £6,000 and this year, Nicola and Mel decided to donate the money to charities chosen by families of those who recently passed away from cancer.

These included The British Heart Foundation, Macmillan and The Joshua Tree children’s cancer charity for Brenda Smith, Mark Orford and Cathy Brown respectively. 

Mel said: “Because so many people have supported me over the years we decided to donate some of the money to different people who have lost their lives.”

£1,000 was donated to each of the charities with the remaining money going to Inflammatory Breast Cancer UK.

Around 350 people attended Saturday’s ball and video has gained more than 3,000 views on Facebook.