The First Minister has given his support to the Teles campaign for bone marrow donors.

Alex Salmond urged people to consider joining the national bone marrow registers after he heard about Menzieshill baby Faith Cushnies cancer battle.

Mr Salmond said: Faiths story highlights the need for more bone marrow donors, and I commend the Evening Telegraph for their excellent campaign.

It is vital that those willing to donate their blood stem cells or bone marrow sign up to the Anthony Nolan Trust and British Bone Marrow Registers, to help people who desperately need lifesaving transplants.

I would encourage everyone eligible to consider saving lives by joining the register.

More than 180 people from Tayside have registered to be donors with the bone marrow and stem cell charity Anthony Nolan since the Tele published Faiths story on Tuesday.

The nine-month-old, needed a bone marrow donation to beat leukaemia, but after her donor backed out she relapsed before a replacement could be found.

Doctors have told Faiths devastated parents there is now nothing they can do for her.

Every year around 1,800 people in the UK need a bone marrow or stem cell transplant to treat cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma and blood disorders like sickle cell disease.

Bone marrow, the spongy tissue found inside some bones, contains stem cells that produce blood cells to carry oxygen around the body, fight infection and stop bleeding.

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Alex Salmond says Yes to the Teles bone marrow campaign

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