As a devoted gran, Sipy Howard looks forward to watching her grandkids grow up.

In two years' time, the 65-year-old hopes to proudly look on as her youngest granddaughter, Sienna, goes off to school .

But devastatingly, she doesn't know if she'll be able to do so - because she urgently needs a bone marrow transplant to survive.

Sipy, a "warm and adoring" gran, was diagnosed with leukaemia on December 15 last year - which also happened to be her birthday.

Although she has been undergoing intense chemotherapy, she is in need of a bone marrow and stem cell transplant to save her life.

Now, her daughters, Emma, 34, Jolene, 32, and Sammy, 26, have launched a desperate online campaign to find a donor for her.

The heart-wrenching campaign, dubbed #SavingSipy , aims to encourage potential donors to sign up to the bone marrow register.

It stresses how simple it is to register as a donor online.

Sipy, married to husband Eli, told Mirror Online she is "moved" by the support she has received from her loved ones - as well as strangers.

"We really need as many people as possible to sign up to the register," said the mum of three, from Kenton, northwest London.

She added: "I want to see my grandchildren growing up and my youngest granddaughter going to school."

Sipy was devastated to be diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, an aggressive blood cancer, on her 65th birthday.

Her daughters were also shocked by the diagnosis.

Emma said: "You can never prepare yourself for hearing that a loved one has cancer.

"You are suddenly filled with fear and a desperation you have never quite experienced.

"I felt like I had been hit by a car when my dad broke the news to me on my mum's birthday.

"Keeping yourself emotionally together each day becomes your only goal."

She added that her mum is currently "struggling through" her second, gruelling round of chemotherapy.

"It's the knowing that she needs us more than ever that keeps us going, keeps us fighting," she said.

"We won't give up on her and our goal of finding a match for her."

Sipy, described as "bubbly, always laughing and generally a bit nuts", is a gran to two-year-old Sienna and four-year-old Sofia.

A member of the Jewish community, she has an "open house policy" and "cares for everyone she meets", according to her family.

Her daughters are hoping that the community - specifically the Sephardi community - could help to save her life.

Sammy said: "One of the hardest things about the situation is knowing there may be someone in the world who is a match for my mum, but because they have not registered to be on the bone marrow register, they can't save her.

"This is why we are desperately trying to reach out to everyone we can and get our message across.

"We urgently need people to register now and unfortunately we don't have much time."

Jolene added: "Awareness is key."

The campaign is being supported by the charity DKMS, which aims to help blood cancer patients find matching donors.

For details of how to register as a donor online, you can visit the #SavingSipy Facebook page here or DKMS's website here .

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Adoring gran who will die without bone marrow transplant desperate to see granddaughter go to school - Mirror.co.uk

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