Millie should be starting teenage life but she can't see her friends... it's lonely for her'

Urgent search for stem cell donor

- BY DAN WARBURTON

A TEENAGE girl is facing a desperate race against time for a lifesaving stem cell donor after being diagnosed with an extremely rare blood disorder.

Millie Fairley, 13, has aplastic anaemia, which means her bone marrow cannot make enough new blood cells for the body to work normally.

The condition, which affects around two in every million people in the UK, makes it harder to fight infection, stop bleeding or carry oxygen around the body.

Her mum Hayley said the diagnosis shortly after Millie's 13th birthday changed her whole family's life "overnight".

Match

Hayley, 47, added: "My little girl should be starting teenage life, but she's so vulnerable that she has to isolate at home or in hospital. She can't see her friends, and it's been a really lonely time for her. We just want her to get better, so that she can have her life back."