YOUR decision to give blood could mean the difference between life and death for a six-month-old Gwent boy.

Jack Witchard desperately needs a bone marrow transplant - the only way he will fully recover from a rare, potentially fatal disease which strikes about 30 children in the UK every year.

Those prepared to go on the bone marrow register need to first give blood to do so. Now Jack's mum Paula, 34, from Rogerstone, is calling on people in Gwent to get on the register to help her son and others like him.

The plea comes two weeks after she was told that Jack would need the transplant. Mrs Witchard, originally from Abertillery, said: "I was told that Jack had Langerhans Cell Hitiocytosis (LCH), a rare immune deficiency, two months ago and then two weeks ago we found that it had spread to his bone marrow."

A bone marrow transplant would give Jack an 80% chance of a total cure and increase his chance of survival. Children with the disease can live from a few months to a few years.

Jack is taken to Llandough Hos-pital near Cardiff every week for treatment and has to be given up to 15 doses of medicine a day in order to keep him healthy.

Mrs Witchard said: "There were small things that at first were put down to eczema or viral infections, then after my third visit to the doctors in a week, Jack was admitted to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport."

After a meningitis scare Jack was ready to be taken home when Paula noticed a clear fluid leaking from his foot, within hours they were transferred to Llandough Hospital and doctors were talking of the condition LCH.

They diagnosed Jack with LCH in his gut and skin. After an initial six-week course of chemotherapy to control the condition, and other medication, Jack was assessed and it was then that Mrs Witchard and her husband Paul were dealt a further blow. The LCH was now detectable in the baby's bone marrow and from that moment, the search has been on to find the elusive match needed to help keep Jack strong and healthy.

Registers world-wide are being checked, as are the family - but as Jack is an only child and siblings have a far better chance of matching than parents, the chance of a family match is slim.

Mrs Witchard said: "Every day I spend with him I feel blessed. "A friend asked what I wanted for Christmas last week and there's only one gift I could ever want - and that is a bone marrow match to save my son. I urge anyone who is able to give blood to do so and help give people waiting a bone marrow transplant a chance." Anyone interested in giving blood can contact the freephone number 0800 252266.