Two dads have made a desperate appeal for bone marrow donors who could save the lives of their seriously-ill sons.

Ten-year-old Hamza Khan suffers from aplastic anaemia and has now been in hospital for the last four months.

The only cure is a bone marrow transplant.

Unfortunately a match cannot be found from his own family and he is now relying on strangers to come forward and provide a life-saving transplant.

His condition has deteriorated so much he has been confined to St James's Hospital in Leeds for four months and has twice needed treatment on the children's intensive care unit.

The illness leaves his body unable to fight infection and he needs platelet transfusions twice a week and a blood transfusion every three weeks. He is also being given antibiotics intravenously.

His father Mav Khan, of Heaton, is making a last-ditch attempt to persuade more members of the Asian community to come forward and join the bone marrow register.

Joining the plea for more donors from an ethnic minority background is Shahid Parvaz, of Harlow Road, Lidget Green, Bradford, father to 12-year-old Mohammed Shahbaaz, who suffers from a rare form of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia - Philadephia Positive Chromosome.

Mohammed, who is treated on the same ward as Hamza, is also in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant to give him the best chance of survival.

Although the youngster has five siblings, none are a match and he is desperate to find a match on the bone marrow register.

Since his diagnosis 18 months ago Mohammed has been in hospital up to four times a week for intensive chemotherapy.

"His is coping quite well but he has lines going into his body and there are side effects to the chemotherapy," said Mr Parvaz.

"He cannot walk more than 100 yards without pain and discomfort and he lost all his hair. He is also very afraid he will not grow as he hasn't grown even a centimetre in 18 months and this is his main worry.

"Sometimes he does not speak for days but he is a brave lad and like Hamza, he is a trooper."

The number of Asian donors on the bone marrow register is currently less than three per cent but matching is performed on tissue type and is an inherited characteristic, so ethnic origin is vital.

Mr Khan said: "The time Hamza has spent in hospital has not been pleasant. The whole experience is very frightening for Hamza and his family.

"It has got to the stage where he desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. I am appealing to the Asian community to help by becoming bone marrow donors.

"It is very important, not only for Hamza, but also for the many, many other children with similar illnesses. To see your child in this state is very scary, you feel so helpless.

"What Hamza is going through, no child should. I once again appeal for the Asian community to help save my son's life."

The two boys, who have become firm friends, are being treated by Dr Mike Richards, consultant paediatric haemotologist at St James's.

Dr Richards joined the call for more people from an ethnic minority background to come forward and help. He said: "Hamza keeps getting infections so the only way to improve his body's ability to fight infection is to get a bone marrow transplant.

"It is pretty critical he gets this transplant. It is not a simple thing to do and it is no guarantee of cure or survival but it will give him the best chance and offers a chance of improvement."

Of Mohammed he said: "There is a concern with this leukaemia of a relapse if he has chemotherapy without a transplant.

"To give these children a chance it is important that more Asian people join the bone marrow register."

A spokesman for the Anthony Nolan Trust said: "We are urging more people aged 18-40 from black and minority ethnic communities to join the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register.

"People who need a bone marrow transplant are most likely to find a suitable donor with the same ethnic background. The greater the number of people from black and minority ethnic communities who join our register, the more children and adults from these communities we can help."

For more information contact The Anthony Nolan Trust now on www.anthonynolan.org.uk or 020 7284 1234 or newdonor@anthonynolan.org.uk