A Fife woman has paid tribute to her hero brother, who is helping save her life as she battles leukaemia.
Lynsey Halley, from Windygates, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) earlier this year and will undergo a bone marrow transplant next month in her fight for survival.
The 24-year-old, a former pupil of Bell Baxter High School, has been given the lifeline thanks to her brother, Brett, 28, after being lined up as unlikely bone marrow donor.
With only a 25 to 30% chance of her sibling being a suitable candidate, Lynsey said that she was thrilled when her brother was declared a match.
Speaking of her diagnosis in March, Lynsey said: “I didn’t expect it at all. I have always been a fit and healthy person. I just started getting unwell, constantly getting colds, tonsillitis and feeling run down.
“The doctors kept on coming back and saying that something was just not right.”
Acute myeloid leukaemia is a particularly aggressive form of cancer that requires immediate treatment. Specialised stem cells, located in bone marrow, produce too many immature white blood cells that fail to fight infection like healthy blood cells.
Only 2,600 people each year are diagnosed with AML, and these people tend to be above the age of 65.
Four rounds of chemotherapy have destroyed the leukaemia cells in Lynsey’s body but a cancer causing protein has not been eliminated, prompting the need for the transplant, scheduled for next month.
She said: “It was a massive shock but I didn’t really have a choice in it. I’ve just had to power on through with it. It is definitely the hardest thing I have ever had to go through in my life.
“The doctors were thinking about donors well before they knew I needed a transplant. When I was first diagnosed they did tests on my brother, just in case they might need a match and it would save time later on.
“I was just so happy when I found out he could.”
