Sick mum's sister arrives in the UK to save her

The sister of a woman from Dorset who is desperately ill with leukaemia has arrived in the country for a life-saving stem cell transplant.

23-year-old May Brown lives in Weymouth with her former soldier husband Mike and their two-year-old daughter Selina-May. At the moment though she is in and out of hospital in London, where she is undergoing her second round of intensive chemotherapy at King's College Hospital.

May needs a stem cell transplant and her sister Martha Williams - who lives in Nigeria - is a perfect match. The Home Office initially refused her application for a visa over fears Martha would not return to Africa when it expired. But Mrs Brown said her schoolteacher sister, who has two children, had no wish to relocate. After a campaign by the African Caribbean Leukaemia Trust (ACLT) and a petition, the Immigration Minister changed his mind.

Martha's visa was granted on compassionate grounds and she flew into Heathrow last night, 24 October to be met by May and her family - May wore a mask to avoid any infection that could make her ill.

This is the moment the two sisters came together - not only a loving hug between two people reunited from across the world but a hug with the potential to save lives, if the transplant is a success.