LITTLE Elizabeth Morris, the plucky five-year-old Radcliffe girl who has leukaemia, has been thrown a lifeline thanks to an anonymous donor.

After a year-long search for a compatible donor, Elizabeth will finally be able to undergo the bone marrow transplant she needs to save her life.

Her parents, Janet and Jeremy, of Hollow Meadow, Ringley, said that they cannot thank the anonymous donor enough.

Mrs Morris said: "Without a donor, doctors said that Elizabeth's chances were slim. Now a stranger has given her a chance to live.

"We cannot put into words what this means to us. We are hoping that in a few years, we may be able to get in touch with this person and thank him or her properly.

"But we don't want people to stop coming forward for the bone marrow register. There are still many thousands of people who cannot find a match."

An appeal for a suitable donor was carried in the Bury Times in April this year, after the couple had been told by doctors that their two-year-old daughter, Rachel, was incompatible and unable to give her bone marrow to her sister. Elizabeth will have to undergo intense chemotherapy and radiotherapy before she is ready to have the transplant, which is set to take place within the next few months.

Mrs Morris said: "We are very apprehensive about the operation, but overjoyed at having at last found a donor. We had not expected to find anyone.

"It has come as a tremendous relief. The date of the operation has to be agreed, and doctors have not yet decided. But it will definitely be soon."

Elizabeth has met the news in a matter-of-fact manner.

Mrs Morris said: "She just wants to get better. She is very well aware of what is wrong with her. She is tremendous.

"She is so strong. Sometimes we forget that she is only five. But we do expect such a lot from her at such a young age."

Elizabeth is longing to do the things that she has missed out on because she has spent most of her childhood in and out of hospital. The thing she longs for most is to be able to go swimming.

A fundraising campaign for her dream ambition to swim with dolphins has been running over the last few months, but has been put on hold now until after Christmas. Elizabeth has been unable to swim because of the chemotherapy treatment.

Her mother said: "Elizabeth is very determined to get better. It has been a long time coming. She just wants to get back to normal, to get back to school properly."

The family has been campaigning tirelessly to boost the region's blood banks and held a mass blood donor session in Ringley in the summer.

Local people have also contacted the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust to be placed on the register. And local man Allan Taylor raised £1,400 for Elizabeth by holding sponsored events at The Railway Club, Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe.

Following the operation, which is expected to take place at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, Elizabeth will have to be placed in isolation for weeks due to the high risk of infection.

But her family hopes she will be fit enough to be back home for Christmas.