TWO men have joined forces in the battle against leukaemia after an amazing coincidence brought them together -- and they discovered they had the same name and the same job!

Mick Baines, 41, of Bolton Road, Abbey Village, is awaiting a life-saving bone marrow transplant after being matched with a donor by the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust, three years after being diagnosed with the disease.

He recently organised his own fund-raising feat for the trust by taking to the skies in a glider with his son Andrew and nephew Anthony Forsyth, of Hargreaves Road, Oswaldtwistle. The stunt raised £300.

Now he is supporting the efforts of another Mick Baines, who is running the New York Marathon on November 5 in aid of the Trust. The men got together through their work with the Trust.

Leukaemia sufferer Mick, who used to work as a security guard at Studio Cards, Clayton-le-Moors, said: "It can get very confusing with us both having the same name but fund-raising like this is vital because it costs £50 to put somebody on the register."

Runner Mick, 43, is a security manager at BAE Systems covering Samlesbury and Warton. He has been on the charity's volunteer bone marrow donor register for five years and has been called to give two samples. The father-of-two spotted the fund-raising opportunity in the Anthony Bone Marrow Trust's Connection magazine. The trip will double up as a 40th birthday celebration for his wife Debra.

He said: "I am fully committed to donating bone marrow should I be lucky enough to offer another human being the chance of life."

Mick's operation has been set for October 12. It has a 70 per cent success rate.

Bone marrow will be taken from the donor then flown to the UK for the transplant at Christie Hospital, Manchester.

Mick, who being married to Julia for 20 years, said: "Most of me is looking forward to it and the rest of me is petrified. It is a potentially fatal procedure and my body may end up rejecting the bone marrow.

"I could be looking at a hospital stay in isolation of up to three months so thankfully I have a very supportive family.

"The chances of me finding a match from the seven million donors on the worldwide register were very slim. The Trust had already looked for a match twice, so it was a case of third time lucky.

"All I know about my donor is that she is in her 20s, from America and probably only recently joined the register. I'd love to get in contact with her but this is not normally arranged for two years and only if she wants the publicity."