Race against time to save 10-week-old baby's life

A desperate father is in a race against time to save the life of his baby daughter who was born with no immune system.

Ex-Desborough pupil Graeme Warnell has just four months to find a bone marrow donor for ten-week-old Nina.

The 42-year-old, who grew up in Braywick Road, Maidenhead, and his wife Aga, 37, are begging the public to help find a match by registering with the Anthony Nolan Trust.

"Most children with this don't last more than a year," said Graeme, whose daughter is kept in a sterile germ-free chamber.

"Even something like a common cold will turn into pneumonia or something immediately fatal."

Nina suffers from severe combined immune deficiency syndrome, an inherited condition affecting one in 300,000 babies and better known as 'bubble baby syndrome'.

Graeme and Aga have been told they have a 'three or four month window' to find a donor.

They are taking it in turns on 12-hour shifts to watch over her at the Children's University Hospital in Kraków, Poland, where they temporarily relocated for work in February and where Nina was born.

If cells from a suitable donor are transplanted, Nina, who has a rare gene type, will have a 60-90 per cent chance of survival.

Registering on the international database is simple and involves filling in a short form and spitting in a cup - no blood or needles are required.

Visit the Anthony Nolan Trust for more information.

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