THE parents of a six-year-old girl once given eight weeks to live by doctors have learned that a fully-matched bone marrow donor has been found.

Molly-Ann Barnett suffers from a rare form of leukaemia, so her family launched a world-wide search for a donor.

As part of the campaign, they handed out leaflets to cricket fans gathering for the England versus West Indies one-day match, at Chester-le-Street's Riverside ground, County Durham, this summer.

If a donor had not been found, Molly-Ann would have lost her battle against acute myeloid leukaemia.

But her family were told yesterday that an American donor had come forward and that doctors at St James's University Hospital, in Leeds, would carry out the transplant.

A spokeswoman for St James's said: "The parents said they would like to express their appreciation to everyone who has come forward to register as bone marrow donors."

Following the transplant, Molly-Ann, from Hassle, near Hull, will recover in a sterile, isolated room.