Parents Make Emotional YouTube Appeal To Save Critically Ill 14-Month-Old Daughter

Parents Make Emotional YouTube Appeal To Save Critically Ill 14-Month-Old Daughter
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The mum and dad of a critically ill 14-month-old girl have made a desperate worldwide YouTube appeal to find someone to save her life.

Margot Martini has an extremely rare form of leukaemia.

She was diagnosed in October after she was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she had an emergency blood transfusion and spent the next 10 days on life support.

Her parents Vicki and Yasser were told she has a form of leukaemia so rare her consultant has seen only three such cases in the last decade.

Now they have issued a global appeal via YouTube to find a donor whose stem cells could save Margot's life.

Yasser told Sky News: "Margot needs to receive a stem cell donation from someone with a similar tissue type as hers. So we are on a worldwide search for a donor - and unfortunately, without much luck to date."

Margot's form of leukaemia has 'dual lineage', which means she has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia. Her best chance of beating the disease is to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Because Margot's leukaemia is so rare, her parents are organising national 'donor drives' where volunteers can register in the hope that someone will be a perfect match.

Yasser added: "Her tissue type is not uncommon, so a match could literally come from anywhere. We're asking people to do something amazing: Register. Swab. Save a life. It could be Margot's or someone else's."

Anyone who wants to can request a saliva swab kit which can be used at home or register at designated medical centres on three separate 'donor days'.

A week after they launched the campaign, Delete Blood Cancer UK said it had received more than 12,000 requests for swab kits.

Yasser said: "It is like oxygen to us that there has been this initial impact, but we are still seeking a perfect match."