Beaming Mubinah Akram welcomed more than 70 friends and well-wishers to a special bone marrow donor session last night set up in a last-ditch bid to save her life.

The bouncy nine-year-old suffers from Fanconis Anaemia, a rare immune disorder, and her diminishing hopes of survival rest on a bone marrow transplant.

Today more than 70 blood samples taken in a donor session at Margaret McMillan First School, Heaton, were being tested in the hope that one will prove to be a match for Mubinah's.

The session was organised after tests carried out on 30 members of her family - in Bradford and Pakistan - drew a blank.

Relatives of Mubinah, who lives in Scotchman Road, distributed 1,200 leaflets and posters throughout the area and were pleased with last night's turnout - although experts from the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust still want more donors.

"We are encouraged by the response but 70 is a very small percentage of the total number of people blitzed with the leaflets," said Tina Emmott of the trust.

"There's an Asian person out there somewhere who can save Mubinah's life."

Dr Jahangir Rehman, house officer at St James' Hospital in Leeds, said: "Donating some bone marrow is not a difficult procedure, you get a couple of days off work and have a bit of a sore bum and a bruise the next day.

"We want to encourage donors among the Asian community - leukaemia can strike among children of all races.

"The chance of getting a match for an Asian child is higher from Asian donors.

"It's good to see some youngsters taking part - they can see what a big buzz it would be to save a child's life."

For more information, contact the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust on (01423) 879510.

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