Father in bone marrow donor plea

Gordon Reynolds said the last operation was tough

A father-of-five who has been diagnosed with leukaemia has appealed to his community to find a bone marrow donor.

Gordon Reynolds, 60, from Ludlow, Shropshire, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma leukaemia in July 2002.

The Anthony Nolan Trust said he has had two operations but "his only hope of long-term survival is a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor".

People aged 18 to 40 have been asked to attend a donor registration session at Ludlow Raceclub on 8 November.

The event will be held in the Clive Pavillion between 1230 and 1730 GMT.

A worldwide search through the trust's bone marrow register did not find an appropriate match for Mr Reynolds.

'Strong bloke'

He said: "If I could find a match, then I hope that would be the end of it.

"Without that I will need to have another operation and I didn't think I would survive the last one. It was really tough.

"I'm a strong bloke, but if I was told that I had to go through that again, I would have to think long and hard about it."

A trust spokeswoman said Mr Reynolds had always been "fit as a fiddle" and played cricket and golf regularly.

She particularly urged young men to register because they made the best bone marrow donors.