A LYTHAM nurse has given an American woman the perfect gift this Christmas -- the chance of life.

Jackie Nickson, who works on the Fisher Unit at Lytham Hospital, has donated some of her bone marrow to try to save the life of the woman suffering from leukaemia.

Jackie, the mother of three daughters aged 15, 13, and 11, joined the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow register 12 years ago when her children were small, and remembers thinking at the time, "If it were my child, I'd want someone to do that for me," then forgot all about it.

But Jackie came back from holiday in August this year to find letters and an urgent answerphone message asking her to get in touch as there was a potential match.

She sent off eight small bottles of blood taken by her colleagues at Lytham Hospital. The Anthony Nolan Trust told her she wouldn't hear anything for three months, but six weeks later they were back in touch.

"I was a match. I was so shocked. It seemed so bizarre -- the kind of thing that happens to other people," she said.

Jackie then gave two pints of blood, one at a medical in London and the other at the blood transfusion unit in Lancaster. The blood was given back to her during the bone marrow procedure at the London Clinic in Harley Street at the beginning of November.

"It only takes about an hour under general anaesthetic. I thought they would draw the bone marrow out of my hip, but I have five puncture marks in my bottom.

"Actually I didn't even need painkillers, was out very quickly and have had no side effects," she said.

Jackie's bone marrow was flown out to the USA and given the same day to the woman, who has acute myloid leukaemia. The woman weighed around 14 stone so she needed one a half litres of Jackie's bone marrow.

Over the coming year Jackie will follow the woman's progress to see if the transplant has been a success.

"People keep asking me how I'd feel if she didn't survive. I really hope she does, of course. But if she doesn't, though it will be very sad, I'll know I did my best for her.

"I don't feel especially brave. It's a great privilege to be given the chance to help someone to live," she said.

Jackie hopes that other people will now consider joining the register. At present 70 per cent of donors are women and the Trust are looking for more male volunteers aged between 18 and 40, especially from an ethnic background.

"It really isn't such a great ordeal and may make such a difference, not just to an individual, but to a whole family," she said.

For a registration form and more details, contact: The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, PO Box 1767, London NW3 4YR, or email newdonor@anthonynolan.com.