CANCER MUM KARLA LOSES FIGHT FOR LIFE; Donor found too late to save her.

Byline: MATT ROPER

YOUNG mum Karla Neckles lost her brave battle against leukaemia - just days after being told a bone marrow donor had been found.

The 21-year-old was just weeks away from the transplant operation which would have saved her life but she died on Sunday morning at Barts Hospital, London.

Family friend Pat McFarlane said yesterday: "It's such a cruel twist of fate that, just when we'd found the needle in the haystack, Karla's life was taken before she could have the transplant.

"We're all devastated. Karla's death has left her mother Laura absolutely broken. The only comfort she has is that she was holding her hand when she died. Karla's brother Lewis was holding her other hand, and her two best friends were also there."

Karla, who had a three-year-old son Lenny, was diagnosed with leukaemia in January, two months after the birth of her second boy Joshua.

Last month the Mirror highlighted her desperate search for a donor.

Because she was mixed race there were fewer suitable donors and doctors were at first unable to find a match. In an emotional interview with the Mirror, Karla, from Hainault, Essex, said: "I can't bear to think of leaving my boys alone. My youngest can't even say 'Mummy' yet. I want to hear him say it for the first time. I'm their mother, they need me. I want to be there to cuddle them when they're scared or upset."

Her heart-rending story prompted thousands of Mirror readers to call the Anthony Nolan Trust to give blood samples.

On June 25 doctors told Karla that a matching donor had been found in Germany. Karla's mother Laura said at the time: "We all cuddled and cried, Karla just couldn't believe it."

How to help

To find out if you can save the life of a patient waiting for a bone marrow transplant, call the Anthony Nolan Trust on 020 7284 1234 or visit their website at www.anthonynolan.org.uk.

CAPTION(S):

TRAGIC Karla's death "cruel twist of fate"