A chance to live

An exhaustive year-long search to find a compatible bone marrow donor for the five-year-old leukaemia sufferer has finally come to a successful end.

This means Elizabeth will finally be able to undergo the bone marrow transplant operation she so desperately needs to save her life.

Elizabeth's plight touched the hearts of Bolton's public, including Wanderers' captain Gudni Bergsson.

Her overjoyed parents, Janet and Jeremy, of Hollow Meadow, Ringley, say that they cannot thank the anonymous donor enough.

They have searched the world's bone marrow registers for almost 12 months, without luck.

But at the weekend the couple, who have two daughters, were told the news that a suitable match had been found.

The donor fits Elizabeth's tissue type on six vital checks.

But the benefactor wishes to remain anonymous.

It means that the donor could be local and came forward after seeing the appeal in the paper.

The couple suffered a blow earlier this year after doctors revealed that their two-year-old daughter, Rachel, was incompatible and unable to give her bone marrow to her sister. Elizabeth will have to undergo intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy before she is ready to have the transplant.

During the operation the marrow is taken out of the donor's hip or leg and then pumped intravenously into Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's mother, Janet, said: "We are very apprehensive about the operation, but we are overjoyed at having at last found a donor. We had not expected to find someone. At the beginning, we did not think it would be difficult to find a match. But as time went on, we began to realise that Elizabeth had an unusual tissue type. It has come as a tremendous relief. The date of the operation has to be agreed, and doctors have not yet decided. But it will definitely be soon."

Elizabeth has met the news in a matter-of-fact manner.

Mrs Morris said: "She just wants to get better. She is very well aware of what is wrong with her. She is tremendous.

"She is so strong. Sometimes we forget that she is only five. But we do expect such a lot from her at such a young age."

Elizabeth is longing to do the things that she has missed out on because she has spent most of her childhood in and out of hospital. The thing she longs for most is to be able to go swimming.

A fundraising campaign for her dream ambition to swim with dolphins has been running over the last few months, but has been put on hold now until after Christmas. Elizabeth has been unable to swim because of the chemotherapy treatment.

Her mother said: "Elizabeth is very determined to get better. It has been a long time coming. She just wants to get back to normal, to get back to school properly."

The family has been campaigning tirelessly to boost the region's blood banks and held a mass blood donor session in Ringley in the summer.

Local people have also contacted the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust to be placed on the register. Wanderers captain Gudni Bergsson backed the appeal for Elizabeth in a recent match day programme.

And Bolton man Allan Taylor raised £1,400 for Elizabeth by holding sponsored events at The Railway Club, Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe.

Mrs Morris added: "Without a donor, doctors have said that Elizabeth's chances were slim. Now a stranger has given her a chance to live.

"We cannot put into words what this means to us. We are hoping that in a few years, we may be able to get in touch with this person and thank him or her properly.

"But we don't want people to stop coming forward for the bone marrow register. There are still many thousands of people who cannot find a match."

Following the operation, which is expected to take place at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, Elizabeth will have to be placed in isolation for weeks due to the high risk of infection.

But her family hopes she will be fit enough to be back home for Christmas.