A WOMAN from Westbury has donated bone marrow to try to save the life of a child she has never met.

Sarah Tucker received a letter asking for her help 11 years after putting her name on the national bone marrow donation register.

She said: "I didn't believe it when I first got the letter. You do these things and then forget about them, so it was a shock."

The letter told Mrs Tucker she was a match for a child with leukaemia and asked if she was still willing to go through the often painful procedure to remove marrow from her pelvic bone.

She said: "I was wary at first but my doubts vanished when I found it was for a child. I hope someone would do the same if it was one of my children."

Mrs Tucker spent two nights at a private hospital in Bristol and underwent the operation under general anaesthetic.

Before she was allowed to have the operation she was given a medical examination and had counselling.

She was warned the procedure could leave her in considerable pain, but decided to go ahead.

She said: "It really wasn't that bad. I was a little bit bruised but having a baby hurt much more than that.

"Now I have done it and know what it is like, if they called me next week and asked me to do it again I would have no problem."

For a week after the operation Mrs Tucker had to take it easy and has been pampered by her husband, David, and sons, Sam, 15 and 14-year-old Alex.

Confidentiality will be kept between her and the family she has helped and they will probably never meet, but Mrs Tucker will be kept informed of the child's progress.

Leukaemia kills more children each year in Britain than any other disease, despite the fact that two out of three who are affected by it will survive.

Although most respond to other treatments, for others the final chance is a bone marrow transplant.

The best chance of finding a match is through a brother or sister and 70 per cent of transplants are between family members.

If there is no match in the family they have to rely on unrelated donors.

A simple blood test is all that is required for your name to be put on the list of possible donors. For information contact your nearest blood donor service.