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A CANCER victim claims he will die because his sister will not donate her bone marrow.

Leukaemia sufferer Simon Pretty, 46, has a rare tissue type and doctors believe sibling Helen, 43, is the only person in the world who is a perfect match.

But she refuses to have the vital operation and the chances of finding another donor are slim - which means the dad-of-three could die within months.

His partner Jacqueline Fenton now fears she will be left to bring up their children Rebecca, eight, Jack, six, and Benjamin, three, on her own. Simon, who is having chemotherapy, said: "We found a prayer in Rebecca's coat which said, 'Please don't let my daddy die from cancer.' That brought tears to my eyes.

"When people hear about what has happened they are lost for words," said the human resources manager from Mobberley, Cheshire. In July 2004, he was diagnosed with the rare cancer acute promyelocytic leukaemia.

Simon, who admits he was never close to his sister, claims she agreed to help but then changed her mind.

Doctors only gave him a 45 per cent chance of surviving the first stage of chemotherapy at the Christie Hospital in Manchester.

Then, in January, Simon returned home and broke down over the cure that was being denied him. In desperation, Jacqueline visited Helen at her home hoping she could convince her.

But the mother-of-two again refused to have the op, claiming: "I am putting my family first." Jacqueline revealed: "I said, 'Don't you care if your brother dies?' She said, 'It's very sad'."

She launched herself at Helen. The pair scuffled on the doorstep and Jacqueline was arrested. No further action was taken but Helen's solicitor instructed Jacqueline to stay away. Helen, who runs a private education business in Wilmslow, Cheshire, refused to comment.

Bone marrow cells can be extracted from a hole drilled in the pelvic bone, an operation done under general anaesthetic. A less invasive technique involves injecting a growth hormone to stimulate cell movement in the blood before harvesting cells.