Blair bows to bone marrow parents

The couple outside Number 10

Prime Minister Tony Blair has pledged to help an eight-year-old girl's fight against bone marrow disease after meeting her parents.

Dean and Carol Maddocks said their hour-long meeting with Tony Blair at Downing Street was "fantastic".

They said Mr Blair had promised to more than double the number of bone marrow donors who come forward every year.

Alice Maddocks, their daughter, was diagnosed last year with severe aplastic anaemia, which stops the function of bone marrow, disabling the production of blood cells essential for life.

Speaking after the meeting Mrs Maddocks said: "It was a big breakthrough. I just can't believe it.

"Tony Blair was really compassionate about what we were going through as parents. He cannot do any more than he has done."

The couple from Dewsbury in West Yorkshire, have been campaigning to raise the profile of the Bone Marrow Register with the hope of increasing the numbers of potential donors.

Alice desperately needs a bone marrow transplant but is yet to find a donor.

She has been in and out of hospital several times for blood transfusions and a number of courses of treatment.

Mrs Maddocks remains certain Alice will eventually win through, as she said: "What we need now is the needle in the haystack for Alice. It is there and we will find it."

The meeting between Mr Blair and the couple came about after Mrs Maddocks challenged the Labour leader live on the BBC's Question Time programme, asking him to do more to help those in need find bone marrow donors.

She was also keen to simplify the registration process for donors and ensure that the register is properly funded.

Increasing the donors

As a result of the meeting Mr Blair pledged to raise the number of bone marrow donors from 15,000 to between 30,000 and 40,000 a year, with the Department of Health and the NHS picking up the bill.

Carol Maddocks angry appearance on Question Time

Looking back to the lively exchange between herself and the prime minister she said he "was rather humorous about it".

"He said he would have done exactly the same thing."

John Humphries, the director of the British Bone Marrow Donor Appeal, said: "The breakthrough today is Tony Blair saying the money is coming - it is the first real breakthrough in 16 years."

Mr Maddocks added: "The government accepts a lot more can be done and I think Tony Blair knew we were not going to be fobbed off."

No timetable has yet been announced for the prime minister's plans.