A LOCHGELLY mum is renewing her appeal for more people to take a simple swab test that could help save her daughter's life after a donor had to pull out.

Marie Stark said three-year-old Ava needs a transplant to survive a very rare blood disease but there's a shortage of donors.

The family were left heartbroken when a potential match pulled out recently, and then just a few days ago, Ava's family were told that another potential donor had to pull out for medical reasons.

Marie, Sunnyside Place, said: "The only way she will survive is if she gets a bone marrow donor but the worldwide Anthony Nolan registry for 50 countries only holds 500,000 people.

"This is a disease which rips families apart and yet no-one seems to know much about it or how to donate.

"I need to get more people registered. It can save not just Ava but other people's lives too."

Ava, a pupil at Noah's Ark Nursery in Auchterderran Road, was diagnosed with Inherited bone marrow failure and is at higher risk of developing cancer or leukaemia.

Little Ava is treated at the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh and last month the staff held a sponsored walk around Loch Leven, to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Trust and the Sick Kids Hospital.