TEENAGER Emily Clark’s battle to find a donor to save her life was dealt a blow yesterday – with news her younger sister is not a match for her.

Emily, 17, from Cwmbran, needs a bone marrow transplant after being told last week that her cancer, Non Hodgkin Lymphoma, had returned.

Her family are campaigning for people to join the bone marrow donor list to increase the chances of finding a match for Emily.

Her mum, Donna Dunn said that the race is now on to find a bone marrow donor match for her daughter by February as Emily’s younger sister, Holly, is not a match.

Since the South Wales Argus highlighted Emily’s story on Monday, Anthony Nolan, the UK’s blood cancer charity, has reported 174 people joining the register from Wales stating it was for Emily’s campaign.

And Delete Blood Cancer also reported an increase in people signing up to the register through its service.

Ms Dunn said: “There has been a spike in the number of people signing up to the register locally and it’s great news that people are being inspired to join.”

Emily, from Llantarnam, has campaigned tirelessly for people to sign up as bone marrow (stem cell) donors and set up a charity for sufferers of Non-Hodgkin (Burkitts) Lymphoma, before she needed the transplant herself.

Being in hospital hasn’t stopped the Croesyceiliog Comprehensive pupil campaigning from her bed online.

Emily is urging potential bone marrow (stem cell) donors to sign up to the register to increase the chances of there being a match for her and the other 1,800 UK people who will need a transplant this year.

People can join by filling out an online form and a saliva kit will be sent through the post.

Nearly 90 per cent of people donate their stem cells through a process similar to giving blood – peripheral blood stem cell collection.

The other 10 per cent donate through the bone marrow, where they give cells from the bone marrow in their pelvis under general anaesthetic.

We want our readers to join the bone marrow register to show their support in the hope one of them will be a match for Emily.

To help Emily, if you are aged between 16 and 30 you can join the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register, please tick Emily’s campaign ‘Remission Possible’ as a reason for joining.

If you are aged between 17 and 55, you can join the Delete Blood Cancer bone marrow register.

We’re also backing Emily’s plan to get #RemissionPossible trending on Twitter.