A 21-year-old mother-of-two from Hainault, east London, has started a desperate search for a bone marrow donor to help her beat leukaemia.

Former gymnast Karla Neckles, mother of Lenny, three, and seven-month-old Joshua, was diagnosed in January.

An initial course of chemotherapy seemed to have beaten the disease but she was devastated when it returned.

She needs a bone marrow transplant to survive - but her mixed-race heritage makes a suitable donor hard to find.

Ms Neckles said: "Shortly after the birth of Joshua I found bruises all over my body and felt tired.

"My GP sent me for a blood test - when they called me back for more I knew there was a problem.

"Being told I had leukaemia was a pretty massive shock - I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and I really thought I was going to die."

Doctors have now told Ms Neckles that a bone marrow transplant is her only hope of survival.

But first they must find someone who is the right genetic match.

Because she has a white mother and a half-white, half-Grenadan father her search is proving difficult.

Mixed race people make up only 3% of the register of bone marrow donors.

Ms Neckles said: "There aren't enough people on the register from mixed race backgrounds which is making it really hard for me to find a donor.

"But if people could find it in their hearts to join the register they might not just save my life, they might save that of anyone in the world."

She added: "It's pretty urgent - the doctors can't keep me on chemo forever."

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