A father is hoping his brothers can give him the gift of life after officials approved a mercy flight from Pakistan.

Waheed Ashraf, 32, of Temple Street, Nelson, is battling myeloid leukaemia in the Christie Hospital, Manchester, and needs a life-saving bone marrow transplant.

Doctors tested his ten brothers and sisters in Britain and Pakistan and found his brothers Amjid and Rashad were perfect matches but when they applied for visas the British Embassy turned them down.

Now, after protests from the family, officials have had a change of heart and Amjid, 41, and Rashad, 34, will fly over on Saturday.

The news ends a desperate wait for Waheed, his four-year-old son Ali, and pregnant wife Rukhsana who is due to give birth at the beginning of next month.

Waheed's brother Shahid, 39, of Pine Street, Nelson, said: "It's been a strain for the family.

"Our parents are in Pakistan, it's just myself, my brother and sister here.

"It's been hard for my brother's wife. She's pregnant as well and we travel down to Manchester to see him every other day. They've given him his last chemotherapy and give him blood every three to four days because his bone marrow's stopped doing anything.

"We weren't expecting this delay. Christie's planned to do the transplant at the end of this month.

"Now we are expecting them on Saturday and they are going to give them some treatment and two weeks later they are going to do the bone marrow.

"My brother's very happy because he knows he's going to get treatment ."

Waheed, who works at BSN Medical in Brierfield, went to his doctor in September because he was feeling tired.

He was admitted to hospital following blood tests and told he had leukaemia.

He was given a course of chemotherapy then told he needed a transplant.

Shahid said that he was tested for suitablilty as a donor along with his brother and sister in this country and then the search was extended to other relatives.

He said: "We have five brothers and five sisters and my cousin was coming over after his holidays and brought sample from them. Christie's tested them and found two matched.

"As soon as they knew they contacted the British High Commissioner in Islamabad.

"We put our case for a visitor visa on January 9 and on January 16 it was refused.

"They said they were not satisfied, why weren't the UK relatives tested?

"We spoke to the asylum and immigration tribunal and they said we could sort out an appeal but the process would have been long. We couldn't wait." However, the family later received a call from the Foreign Office telling them it had now decided to accept the visa application, although they have not been told why.

A Foreign Office spokesman said they could not comment on individual cases. Shahid said he would have no doubts about becoming a bone marrow donor for someone else.

He said: "I'm definitely going to do it because we have been in that situation and we know what it means."