A woman who was told she needed a stem cell transplant to save her life has received the donated stem cells from her Nigerian sister.

As reported in the Echo, May Brown, 23, from Weymouth, was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid leukaemia in July 2015.

The Echo backed the ACLT campaign to allow May's sister to come to the UK to give her a stem cell transplant, after the Home Office denied the visa on 'economic' grounds. 

Many thousands of you signed the petition and eventually, the Home Office granted permission for the journey. 

May was due to receive the stem cell donation from her sister Martha towards the end of last year, soon after Martha’s arrival to the UK. However, the transplant was delayed as May became unwell with a virus and required further chemotherapy treatment before the transplant could take place.

Martha Williams, 26, who lives in Nigeria attended an appointment at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, and successfully donated her stem cells. After the simple procedure (which is very much like donating blood), May, who was also being treated at King’s College Hospital, received the donated stem cells from her sister at 6pm the same day.

May, who is married to former soldier Mike and is mum to Selina-May, two, said: “I am overwhelmed the transplant has taken place. I didn’t have much sleep the night before due to being anxious at what was lying ahead, but I was then and am now, filled with so much joy! This opportunity has given me a second chance at life; enabling me to go back to being a mother to my beautiful daughter.

"I will forever be grateful to the great British public for the support they gave during my appeal and to London-based blood cancer charity ACLT, for the tremendous support and love they have shown me. They truly have gone over and above for my family and me.”

Beverley De-Gale, ACLT co-founder and mother to the UK’s first black individual to receive a stem cell transplant from a non-related person, said: “May’s appeal is probably one of the most challenging campaigns our small charity has managed in the last 20+ years. We’ve been working closely with May since August last year to ensure the outcome; Martha being in the UK to donate stem cells to her sister, became a reality. It feels surreal that it has now happened, despite the many hurdles we faced. It is still early days for May, however we wish her all the best as she starts a new chapter in her life.”