'A simple test meant I could save my sister's life ... we were incredibly lucky'

CHARLOTTE Melville-Jones was just 15 when she received the devastating news that she had aplastic anaemia.

- BRYANA FRANCIS Reporter

The rare blood disorder, where your bone marrow stops making enough new blood cells, meant the Swansea teenager needed intense chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant.

There was just a 25% chance that she was a match with her sister Livi, but luckily she proved to be a match. Livi was able to donate her bone marrow to Charlotte and ultimately save her life.

Now, seven years later, Livi is running the Cardiff Half Marathon this Sunday for the charity which provided crucial support to her family throughout.

Livi, 28, recalled: "When my sister was 15 she was diagnosed with aplastic anaemia and she needed a bone marrow transplant. Me and my family were all tested and luckily I was a match.

"I donated my bone marrow up in London and she was in isolation for three months because the likelihood of her maybe rejecting the transplant or catching different infections is really common in that three-month period."