A STUDENT waiting for a bone marrow transplant to cure a rare blood disorder has found a donor.

Alice Byron, from Launton, near Bicester, was diagnosed in the summer with myelodysplastic syndrome, most commonly found in people over 65.

The 20-year-old was told the condition was likely to turn into leukaemia in the next few years but has since had the good news that a donor in Germany has been found.

She said: “We hope this will be a cure. Obviously there are risks with any transplant that it will fail, or the condition will come back over time, but this is the biggest hope I have so I am feeling positive.”

Since the diagnosis and finding out that her brother Hugo and sister Isobel were not a match, Miss Byron has refused to let it get the better of her.

According to her blog, she was given an estimated life expectancy of eight years if untreated and currently has transfusions every three weeks. But she has continued her studies at Cardiff University.

She said: “I think all of this may have actually been worse for my family than for me. They do feel pretty hopeless – especially seeing as none of them were eligible to be donors – but we have adjusted.

“My dad said the world stopped when I got diagnosed, but it has finally started turning again. He doesn’t want to cancel life just because of illness, so we’re just getting on with it, and we make it work pretty well.”

Although a donor has been found, the match is 90 per cent – the lowest a doctor will use.

The operation is expected to be scheduled for June and until then doctors will continue to look for a 100 per cent match, as this means a smaller chance of Miss Byron’s body rejecting the transplant.

The English literature student said: “The operation is hopefully being postponed so I can finish my degree at Cardiff, which I am very happy about.

“Now I just have to hope no part of my condition worsens until then.

“I feel so lucky to be there [at university] as I was originally told that I was too ill to return, so looking at university with a new perspective feels great.

“I have a chance at normality that a lot of patients do not get.”

Miss Byron hopes to have the transplant immediately after finishing her degree and then take a year out to “beat blood cancer” and “conquer life once I’m feeling healthier”.

To view Miss Byron’s blog see alicebyron.com, or to sign up as a donor see anthonynolan.org.