By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

Brittnee Pingsterhaus was alarmed when she saw her boyfriend go to the floor after attempting a squat at a Hays gym.

Todd Kane, her boyfriend, had an old basketball injury, and she was convinced he had re-injured his knee.

But Kane pulled himself up on his knees and popped a ring out of his pocket to propose.

The fake-injury proposal was videoed by friends at Munsch Gym, where Brittnee is a personal trainer.

The proposal was posted July 25, and since then the post has gone viral with 3,500 likes on Twitter and 24,000 Facebook views with likes coming from as far away as the UK.

“We were very mind blown about all the love that it received,” Brittnee said.

Brittnee, who is originally from Cimarron, and Todd, who is originally from Colby, met in an unusual way as well.

Brittnee was having a rather bad morning last September. She was in line at the drive-through at McDonald’s. She decided that if she did something nice for someone else, she might feel better — so she paid for the order for the person behind her.

Brittnee hoped her deed would be anonymous, but the drive-through line was a bit backed up that morning, which gave the person in the car behind her the opportunity to get out of his car and come up and say thank you.

That person was Todd.

“I was having a bad day, but that definitely turned it into a good one,” Brittnee said.

Todd asked Brittnee out on a date and, as she said, “the rest is history.”

Todd, 23, and Brittnee, 21, quickly discovered they had much in common. Both are seniors in the Health and Human Performance Department at Fort Hays State University.

Todd is hoping to go into coaching, and Brittnee is seeking a career in health promotions.

They learned they were both Harry Potter fans and spend what time they are not in the gym or at school watching the Harry Potter movies.

They both love cool weather and are planning a fall 2018 wedding.

Many of their friends are regulars at the gym, so Todd knew asking Brittnee to marry him at the gym would allow friends to be in on the proposal.

Brittnee and Todd had talked about getting married, and Brittnee even knew Todd had a ring, but she didn’t know anything about the proposal.

When the big day arrived, Todd positioned himself at the squat station with a friend nearby to video the big event.

Todd let the squat bar fall, so Brittnee would hear, and one friend can be heard on the video talking about taking Todd to the ER.

“I really did think he hurt his knee,” she said.

When he presented the ring, Brittnee said she was speechless, her mouth dropped open and she immediately began crying.

“I didn’t know anything he said because I was just bawling I was so happy,” she said. “I actually asked him later that day what he said. I made sure I said yes. I nodded my head.”

So what did Todd say that day to Brittnee?

“I don’t think anybody deserves you, but if you say yes, I will spend the rest of my life trying as hard as I can to accomplish that.”

Todd said in an interview Tuesday, “She said yes, so it’s a mission.”

Todd and Brittnee’s cousin designed the engagement ring, which Brittnee said was exactly what she had imagined her ring would be.

Brittnee said she usually finds out about surprises, but this time she had no clue. She said she loved the proposal and that her friends at the gym could be there to share it with the couple.

“The girls were crying as much as I was,” she said, “and the boys were pretty hyped up too.”

Todd had already asked Brittnee’s father for permission to ask her to marry him, and the couple said their families have been supportive of their engagement.

The couple said they hope they are spreading a message of love with their viral proposal.

“There have been a lot of people who say they look up to our relationship. It really means a lot to us,” Brittnee said, “because we really try to love each other, and we really want to try to show that real love does exist.”