Tearful
student
in donor
appeal
leukemia sufferer Johanna MacVicar yesterday admitted that she may die unless a bone marrow donor comes forward.
The 20-year-old model, from Bishopton, Renfrewshire, is trying to find a donor for a life-saving transplant.
Miss MacVicar has already been through an unsuccessful transplant. A worldwide search of more than four million people has failed to produce another match.
Yesterday Miss MacVicar, a final-year student at the College of Building and Printing in Glasgow, said the chances of finding a donor were becoming slimmer.
She said: ''I am relying on a stranger to save my life now. It is as simple as that.
''But I can't give up hope yet. Someone out there has the same tissue type as me, it just means that person hasn't yet joined the register.''
She showed her spirit on Saturday by abseiling down the Wallace Monument, in Stirling, with 109 other volunteers to raise money for the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust.
But moments after the abseil the student broke down in tears.
As she stepped over the ramparts of the monument, she said she realised she could die without a transplant.
When she reached the ground, she was given a comforting hug by her mother, Angela.
Miss MacVicar, who will fly to Canada this summer to visit relatives, explained: ''At the top I suddenly realised that this was not just an abseil. It was an abseil to try and save my life.
''I began thinking about what I had gone through, about what I will still have to go through, and also about the people who had not made it this far. It was very emotional.''
A bone marrow donor should be aged between 18 and 40 and weigh no less than eight stone. The trust can be contacted on 01877 331374.
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