A FAMILY today made a desperate appeal to help save the life of their much-loved daughter and sister.

Leukaemia sufferer Selina Ramanah, 21, needs a bone marrow transplant and is seriously ill in hospital.

And speaking from the family home in Almondbury today, her mother, sister and brother asked people to come forward and join the Anthony Nolan Trust donor register.

Selina, who is a former student of Newsome High School and Greenhead College, was told four weeks ago that the leukaemia which she had battled three years ago had returned.

She was in the second year of an illustration degree at Kingston University, London, and is now having chemotherapy at St James's Hospital in Leeds. Her family are at her bedside.

Her sister Devina Ramanah-Beck, said: "We were all devastated when we found out the leukaemia had come back so suddenly and so aggressively.

"Selina had been in remission for three years and we all thought she was doing really well.

"She's only 21 and has her whole life ahead of her."

Mum Shantah, Devina, 25, and brother Jason, 16, have been told Selina needs a bone marrow transplant after a second course of chemotherapy which she will have within the next fortnight.

They have already been tested but are unfortunately not suitable to match with Selina.

Mrs Ramanah and husband Ben, who died suddenly 18 months ago from a heart attack, are originally from the island of Mauritius.

Bone marrow donors from ethnic minority communities are particularly rare and there is also a shortage of young donors and male donors.

Devina, who works as a legal adviser at Dewsbury Magistrates' Court, spoke on behalf of the family.

She said: "My sister desperately needs a donor.

"The hospital is searching international registers, but we are aware how difficult it is to find an exact match.

"So many people have asked how they can help, but attending a donor session would not just help Selina, it is giving that potential of life to other people."

The Ramanah family contacted the Examiner after reading about a donor recruitment event in Lindley next week.

Huddersfield Pendragon Round Table has organised the event with the Anthony Nolan Trust on Thursday July 14 at the Lindley Village Surgery, on Thomas Street between 6pm and 9pm.

All people need to do is turn up and a nurse will then take a small sample of blood for the register.

Round Table chairman Andrew Spencer said: "The recruitment event will give people the potential to save the life of someone suffering from leukaemia like Selina."

Donors need to be in good health, aged 18 to 40, weigh more than eight stones and be willing to help any patient.