HUNDREDS of leukaemia sufferers have been given a lifeline after a moving appeal by a little Hampshire girl, the Daily Echo can today reveal.

Last September, seven-year-old Emma Heaton touched us all after she wrote a heartbreaking letter to God asking him to spare the life of her seriously-ill sister, Beth, who was suffering from aplastic anaemia, which is a rare blood disorder. She had already lost one sister.

Thousands of you came forward offering help for Beth, then aged just five months, who needed a bone-marrow transplant to stand any chance of survival.

Now, other sufferers are benefiting from Emma's plea. Catherine Wade, area manager for The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, said: "There is absolutely no doubt that many of the 24,000 who responded to the plight of Beth will go on to save the lives of others in the future."

Since the appeal, the trust has provided lifesaving donors for 216 leukaemia suffers.

Ms Wade said: "It has given them a 50 per cent chance of survival. Without the transplant, they wouldn't survive."

In May, we happily reported Beth had beaten the disease. Dctors who performed the operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, are confident she will grow into a healthy adult and have her own children.

Mum Karen Heaton said: "Beth is doing fine. She is really well.

"Everybody has their own problems and way of dealing with things, but all of a sudden you get the chance to save somebody's life. It's an amazing gift of life."

See page five of today's Daily Echo for Beth's truly remarkable story and how you can help leukaemia sufferers.

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