Bone marrow transplant goes ahead

A potential donor for Caitlin has been found in Spain

A six-year-old girl from Northamptonshire who has a rare form of anaemia is to undergo a bone marrow transplant on Tuesday.

The family of Caitlin Behan, from Weston Favell, Northampton, started a worldwide search for a donor last year.

A match was found in Spain for Caitlin, who suffers from the potentially fatal fanconi anaemia.

Doctors should know in about two weeks time how well Caitlin has responded to the transplant.

Fanconi anaemia prevents the bone marrow from producing blood cells normally, and hundreds of people across England were tested to try to find a match for Caitlin who has a rare tissue type.

When tests proved unsuccessful, her family, the Anthony Nolan Trust and Birmingham Children's Hospital, spread the search across the world and a potential donor was found.

The compatible stem cell tissue was taken from a baby's umbilical cord at a hospital in Barcelona.