Donor needed to save schoolgirl

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7390750.stm

Five-year-old Katie urgently needs a bone marrow donor

A charity has issued an urgent appeal to find a bone marrow donor for a five-year-old girl from South Lanarkshire.

Katie Currie, from East Kilbride, has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

A family match cannot be found for the schoolgirl whose blood count has become dangerously low.

The Anthony Nolan Trust is holding a clinic at the Holiday Inn in East Kilbride on Saturday where people can join the donor register.

Katie was first diagnosed with the illness shortly after her third birthday.

She had been in remission but was placed in isolation in the Schiehallion Ward at Glasgow's Yorkhill Children's hospital when she relapsed in March and is on a cocktail of chemotherapy drugs.

Her younger sister Libby was tested as a potential donor but did not prove to be a suitable match.

Katie's mother Siobhan urged people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan register.

She said: "Katie's a star. Despite her illness, she's always smiling and causing mischief in hospital, whizzing up and down the corridors in one of the toy tractors that is usually parked outside her room.

"She loves school and, after her morning checkups, rushes to be the first in line when the school bell rings.

"We are devastated by her relapse and are working with the Anthony Nolan Trust to set up a session for people to join the register."

A spokesman from the Anthony Trust said there were 16,000 people across the world searching for a bone marrow donor.

The charity is inviting people aged 18-40 to attend the clinic in East Kilbride between 1100 - 1500 BST, where they will be asked to provide a small blood sample to be tested for a match.