Keighley people are being urged to donate bone marrow which could save the life of a former Lothersdale girl.

Four-year-old India Farmer is currently being treated at St James' Hospital, Leeds, for a relapse of her leukaemia. Doctors need a matching donor to carry out the bone marrow transplant that will be her best chance for long-term survival.

Her mother Joanna urges people to get their blood checked for suitability, using a simple kit available from the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust.

India, who was born at Airedale Hospital in 1993, now lives in Harrogate with Keighley-born Joanna.

She was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in July 1996 following a foreign holiday where she had been fractious. Antibiotics kept her temperature down, then she got leg pains, and eventually leukaemia was discovered.

India fought off the disease after five bouts of chemotherapy, but this January the leukaemia returned.

Joanna says she would feel positive about her 'strong-spirited' daughter's chances if a donor could be found.

She adds: "Her future is pretty bleak without a transplant. India is everything to me - I nearly lost her, and now I really appreciate her.

"They want to use the bone marrow of someone who doesn't have leukaemia so it will give her a new immune system."

Joanna says 282,000 people have already registered as potential donors but many more are needed to give a chance to children like India.

Volunteering is a simple matter of contacting the Anthony Nolan Trust by phoning 0171 284 1234.

Volunteers will be sent a medical questionnaire and blood testing kit that they can take to their local GP.

If a prospective donor's blood matches that of a leukaemia sufferer, then further blood samples are taken, before bone marrow can be removed under general anaesthetic.

Joanna says that the donor might have a sore pelvis for a few days, but that their own bone marrow will then return to full strength.

Pupils at Hookstone Chase Primary School, which India attends, have organised a sponsored spell later this month to raise money for the trust.

It costs £50 for every blood sample to be fully tissued typed for the donor register.

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