LEUKAEMIA sufferer Paul Cole is preparing for the bone marrow transplant that could save his life.

However, the father to two-year-old Lucy knows it could also prove to be one of the most dangerous times in his long fight with the disease.

Paul, of Conan Doyle Walk, Liden, said: “There’s a 20 per cent chance that when I kiss goodbye to Lucy and Louise that may be the last time I see them and that’s going to be very hard.”

The 42-year-old featured in the Advertiser’s Gift of Life campaign after he was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in April encouraging more people to become bone marrow donors.

After months of anxious waiting to see if he had a bone marrow donor who is a match he has been told the life saving procedure could go ahead as early as next month.

The database revealed six low level donors from across Europe and the UK, however one of them has proved a 10 out of 10 match.

“How fantastic is that to be given this opportunity?” said Paul.

“Not everybody gets a 10 out of 10.

“Me and my wife Louise had tears of joy. This is my chance.”

However, usually upbeat Paul admitted during his most recent chemotherapy where he was given treatment 24 hours a day he had felt like giving up his fight. “I was very close,” said Paul.

“After the chemotherapy I was very low and I actually did say I’ve had enough now to my consultant because they couldn’t put me into remission.

“It seems a bit silly now, but it was a cry for help.”

In order to have a successful transplant Paul must be in almost 100 per cent remission through chemotherapy.

“If I go home and stop the treatment I will die that’s it,” said Paul.

“I just thought of Lucy and missing her and her in the future asking ‘Mummy where’s Daddy?’ “We have still got a chance here.”

Fortunately the intensive chemotherapy has managed to reduce Paul’s level to only four per cent, which doctors are satisfied with.

Now he is undergoing a further few days of chemotherapy before heading up to the Royal Free Hospital in London at the end of September.

The closeness of the match makes Paul’s chance of success higher, however the significant risks have played on his mind.

He said there is a 70 per cent chance of full remission and a 20 per cent chance of dying from the transplant.

Even if the procedure goes well there is still a 10 per cent chance that his cells could reject the recipient’s, which could prove fatal.

Prior to the bone marrow donation Paul’s bone marrow will be killed off making him very ill and open to the slightest infection.

Paul said: “I have discussed my funeral, which was very weird subject to talk about, but I found it very important to do that with my wife.”

He is finding it difficult to get his head around the idea that after the bone marrow donation he will have a different blood group.

“It’s crazy,” said Paul.

“I’m dying to ask that question – what blood will they give me?

“It’s as if I’ve got a brother somewhere that I’ve not known about.”