A MAN recovering from a bone marrow transplant today spoke of his determination to meet the donor who might have saved his life.

Mick Baines, from Abbey Village, near Blackburn, underwent the operation to help beat the killer cancer leukaemia he has been fighting for the past three years.

Doctors found Mick, a former Great Harwood policeman, was doing so well they allowed him home in time for Christmas, less than a month after the operation and more than a month before he was expecting to be released from the Christie Hospital in Manchester.

Despite a small scare last week, when Mick suffered a temperature rise and was taken back into hospital, the former Express Gifts security guard says he feels fine.

He is now looking to the future and hopes to meet the woman whose bone marrow is now inside him.

The 25-year-old American nurse agreed to donate bone marrow after a worldwide search of registered donors revealed she was the only one with the same marrow type as Mick.

Mick and his wife Julia received a pleasant extra surprise when the bone marrow sample arrived in Manchester from America at the beginning of last month -- the donor had sent a good luck card with it.

Mick said: "By all accounts, it had come over in the same box as the bone marrow and it really touched me and Julia.

"It wished me all the best and was simply signed 'your donor.'

"Donors and the recipients remain anonymous from each other for two years and then if both parties want to meet then it can be arranged."

Mick is hopeful that the card is a sign that his donor would like to meet Mick if all goes well.

He added: "If she just wanted to give the marrow and remain anonymous, I don't think she would have sent the card but we aren't allowed to meet each other within two years in case anything goes wrong.

"I would love to meet her just to say thank you. I will even travel to America to meet her, I have never been there before.

"I have a feeling she will want to meet me but I know very little about her. I know she had the operation in Chicago, but she could be from anywhere.

"I have been told she works with bone marrow patients so she obviously knows what benefit these transplants have.

"To receive a card from her, and a nice card at that, was so touching. She obviously put a lot of thought into it."

Mick's immune system will gradually return as the marrow is accepted by his body. In the meantime, doctors will keep a regular check on his condition as he battles to avoid even the slightest cold.

He had been told he had leukaemia three years before he knew there was a donor for him.

In that time, he has raised thousands of pounds for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, which operates a register of British people prepared to donate marrow.