A LITTLE boy with a potentially fatal blood disorder has been cured in what is believed to be the first transplant of its kind in the world.

Three-year-old Tom Stretch is said to be full of life and energy after treatment at Newcastle General Hospital's Bone Marrow Transplant Unit.

He was cured by the use of tissues taken from his baby sister's placenta and stored for future use.

Tom, who has suffered pneumonia and bowel problems as a result of his condition, was referred to the specialist Newcastle unit from Alder Hey Children's Hospital, in Liverpool, suffering from chronic granulomatous disease.

The disease is an inherited disorder of the white blood cells of the immune system.

It was hoped Tom might benefit from a bone marrow transplant, but as he was the only child in his Deesside, North Wales family, no suitable donor was available.

Then the Newcastle team realised that it might be possible to get the help of Tom's unborn sister.

In recent years it has been found that so-called "cord blood" in the placenta contains bone marrow stem cells, which can be used as an alternative to a bone marrow transplant.

Tom's mother, Joanne, was expecting a baby and was due to deliver at Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales.

When Hannah was born, doctors extracted cord blood from the baby's placenta before it was disposed of.

Hannah was found to be a perfect match for her brother - and free from the disease.

Her cord blood was stored in a blood bank at the Newcastle unit until a transplant could be arranged.

Last night, a spokesman for the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Blood cells from Hannah's placenta have completely cured Tom of his chronic granulomatous disease."

It is hoped Tom will be well enough to be discharged from the transplant unit tomorrow