Fiza Bashir with her mum Riffat and two nurses from Great Ormond Street Hospital.

An 11-year-old has been left fighting for her life in hospital, unable to visit family in case she contacts an infection, while she patiently waits for a donor to come forward.

Fiza Bashir colouring in with her mum Riffat and a nurse at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Fiza Bashir of St George’s Road, Ilford desperately needs a blood stem cell transplant to save her life after she was diagnosed with T Cell Lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, last summer.

She has spent the last two months undergoing treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital and her best chance of life is a transplant from a donor with a matching tissue type.

The Bashir family are appealing for potential donors and they are working with the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan, using its register to match patients with donors willing to donate their blood stem cells.

They are holding a recruitment event at Fiza’s school. Gilbert Colvin Primary, Stafford Avenue, Clayhall on Sunday between 3.30-7.30pm.

Fiza’s father Haroon said: “Fiza’s biggest concern right now is getting back to school and seeing her friends.

“She is very poorly; she spends most of her time in hospital, undergoing chemotherapy and a complicated regime of medication which is keeping her stable.

“She’s staying positive and is a real fighter but she keeps her emotions and fears to herself, quietly waiting for a life-saving donor.”

Fiza’s two siblings, her brother Murthaza, 15, and sister Hajra, 12, have been tested but are unfortunately not a match.

Her mother Riffat, who is staying in the hospital with her, said: “Donating bone marrow does not in any way lessen your quality of life. It does however give someone the opportunity to live for someone like my daughter who is desperate to find a match.

“I hope people consider being part of this life-saving organisation by registering with Anthony Nolan. You could be Fiza’s only hope for life.”

Family friend Naseem Alahi said: “Sadly, for people like Fiza, it’s much harder to find a match if you are from an ethnic minority background. We need our community to come forward and help raise awareness of this issue.”

To find out more visit www.anthonynolan.org/spit.