Help save my wife's life

Doctors have told John Kaminski only a bone marrow transplant will give his wife Emma, pictured, the chance of long-term remission after she became resistant to cancer-battling drugs.

Doctors have searched worldwide for a donor to no avail and even her twin sister has tested negative for a match.

Now a special donor session has been organised in the city by her family and the Anthony Nolan Trust for Telegraph & Argus readers to help save 30-year-old Emma's life as well as that of a young Bradford boy who is desperately ill in a London hospital.

Today Emma's husband John said: "I never realised the suffering people with leukaemia went through. The wards are full of people undergoing treatment for leukaemia and one day it could be somebody from your family that needs the help.

"We need not only hundreds from Bradford but nationally, we need tens of thousands to be tested. Don't just leave it to others."

In February, Emma spearheaded a campaign to raise awareness of leukaemia and the profile of the registered charity, The Anthony Nolan Trust.

But days later, the family were shocked to discover the blood cancer she had been diagnosed with two years ago had returned and Emma herself was placed on the transplant list.

For eight weeks, she has been confined to her hospital bed at Leeds General Infirmary and is prone to infections which can put her in intensive care.

John, 48, a greetings card and gift sales agent, said: "The doctors have told her that the only way they can get her into long-term remission is with a bone marrow transplant.

"It's a risky operation, with not a high success rate, but it's a gamble we have to take because the leukaemia has become resistant to a lot of the chemotherapy drugs."

He is now urging people to attend the donor session.

"Unlike blood donors, with bone marrow, getting a match for somebody is a much longer shot - there are greater criteria," he said. "The more people on the register, the more chance there is of a life being saved."

Emma suffers from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, which normally strikes children. But adults, mainly males, can be affected by the disease, which is more virulent in later life.

Emma's niece, Zoe Waterworth, is running the donor session at the Midland Hotel, where she used to work. The hotel in Foster Square has offered three rooms for free on Saturday, May 11 and the Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Ghazanfer Khaliq has agreed to attend.

Zoe, who is also planning a parachute jump in aid of the Anthony Nolan Trust, said: "Emma is one of the bravest people I've ever known. She never moans and she's gone through hell."

Leukaemia and other potentially fatal bone marrow disorders strike indiscriminately and more than 4,000 people receive the shock diagnosis every year.

For patients without a family match, volunteer donors offer the only chance of life.

Megan Godden, of the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, said the session was organised not only on behalf of Emma's family, but also for a Bradford boy, who is desperately sick in a London hospital.

She stressed that all donors had to be prepared to be a match for any patient.

"They will go on a national register," she said. "We need as many people as possible, particularly men and members of the ethnic minorities. Somebody will one day save somebody's life by doing this.

"People can come along, fill in a medical form and give a small amount of blood. They might never hear from us again or some day, they might be a life-saving match."