SWINDON fire fighter Les Jefferies is used to rescuing people.

But now he may have saved the life of a complete stranger without even meeting him.

Les, 48, of Westlea, donated bone marrow to a man suffering from leukaemia in the United States.

He is the third fire fighter from the town's central fire station to have donated bone marrow in 16 years.

According to the Anthony Nolan Trust, which co-ordinates bone marrow transfers, it is rare to have two people donating bone marrow from one town as although many people are on the register few matches are found.

To find three people from the same workplace is unheard of.

For ethical reasons, the donors are given little information about the patient who is to receive the donation. Les explained: "All I know is that he is a middle aged chap, rather like me."

Les joined the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust in 1978 along with other fire fighters at the station. At the time, he only had to give a small sample of blood through his GP surgery. It was then tissue typed and held on the Trust's database.

In November 2001, Les received a letter from the Trust saying he was a first grade match.

A package was sent through the post, so further tests could be carried out by his GP to improve the accuracy of the match.

He proved to be the most suitable match, and four weeks ago he travelled to the University College Hospital in London where the bone marrow was extracted from his hipbone. Within 24 hours, the operation on the patient was complete, but it's not yet known how successful it will be.

"The operation was quite painful,'' said Les. "I was left with three holes in my leg and one hole in my back, but if it helps this man then it's all worth it."

"To work, it has to be a really close match. If his condition doesn't improve then I might need to provide some white blood cells for him."

Les' wife Heather said: "Les is that kind of person, he's always helping people and I'm very proud of him."

Only after two years, and with the consent of both the patient and donor, will they be able to meet. Les said: "I would certainly love to meet him and see how he gets on, but it's a long wait."

Les joins former colleagues Danny Gray and Dave Hammond in donating bone marrow.

In 1987, Mr Gray, of Ferndale Road, Swindon, was matched with a German boy named Mathias. Danny was flown to Ulm in Germany to have his bone marrow transplant.

Unfortunately, despite some signs of recovery, Mathias' body rejected the bone marrow and he died aged nine in December of that year. Danny retired from fire fighting in 2001. And in September 1997, Mr Hammond donated bone marrow to a young boy. The outcome of the operation is unknown.

What can be done when leukaemia infects the body

Bone marrow is the tissue that forms both the red and white blood cells and is found in the hollow cavities of the bones.

This bone marrow contains stem cells from which all the blood is derived.

Leukaemia is cancer of the bone marrow, which causes widespread and uncontrolled production of abnormal white blood cells within the bone marrow. These then spill out into the blood stream.

Normal white blood cells protect the body from infection and disease. The production of abnormal white cells means that the immune systems of leukaemia sufferers are seriously impaired.

The aim of a bone marrow transplant is to replace the patient's diseased marrow with healthy marrow from a compatible donor. This effectively replaces the patient's defective immune system with that of the healthy donor. The operation is usually only around 40-60 per cent successful.

In a quarter of cases a matching marrow donor can be found in the patient's family, otherwise the only way is through organisations like the Anthony Nolan Trust.

That was set up in 1974 in memory of Anthony Nolan, who received the first bone marrow transplant from a non-related donor.