A PENWORTHAM teenager has issued an urgent plea: to help him find a bone marrow donor before he develops leukaemia.

Zeashan Nawaz, 18, has been diagnosed with rare condition Fanconi anaemia, which doctors say is a forerunner to deadly leukaemia.

The normally active Preston College student has been confined to his bed since the summer, when he was first diagnosed. Doctors now say his blood shows signs that leukaemia may soon develop and he desperately needs a bone marrow operation.

Sadly, news of Zeashan's illness is the second tragedy to hit his family. Just months before he was diagnosed, Zeashan's 14-year-old sister Medeahah had undergone a bone marrow operation to combat the same disease. The disease can be hereditary, although this is very rare. His mother Razia, pictured with Zeashan, said: "We are bitterly disappointed that we haven't been able to find a match for Zeashan as quickly as we did with Medeahah.

"All the family have been tested, but we haven't found a match yet.

"It is heartbreaking. Zeashan has gone from being an active teenager to a sick lad confined to his bed.

"It is very difficult to keep his spirits up. At the end of the day, his life is at stake."

The family will spend the weekend putting up posters in Preston, appealing for people to register on the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow list which helps match donors with people needing transplants.

His father, Mohammed, has even travelled to Pakistan to see if relatives in their native country match up.

Razia added: "We are hoping someone at Preston College will be a match, or maybe someone at T J Hughes, where he has a part time job, might be able to help." The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust is holding a volunteer donor's session at the Catherine Beckett Centre, in Deepdale Road, Preston, from 10am-2pm on Sunday, March 12.

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