A STOIC 18-year-old has encouraged other to join the donor registry after facing her fears to donate bone marrow to her sick father.

Olivia Owen donated the vital fluid last week to help her dad beat cancer, despite her crippling fear of needles and hospitals.

Father-of-four Steffan Owen, 39, who is suffering from leukaemia, told the Cambrian News he was “proud and grateful” that his eldest daughter Olivia has bravely decided to donate.

Olivia relived the daunting yet worthwhile experience for the Cambrian News.

“The whole process took around six hours in total,” she said.

“It was as scary as I’d thought it would be, but I sort of knew what was going to happen... and I am petrified of needles and injections!

“I had a cannula (thin tube) fitted into my hand so my body could receive my blood back and a needle in the middle of my arm that was taking blood which contained my stem cells/bone marrow.

“After the first hour the pain started to settle and I managed to cope with it.”

Although it promised to be a difficult procedure for Olivia to go through, she wanted to do everything she could for her father.

“When we found out that [Dad] needed a transplant, we saw how there was only one person in the whole world that was a 10/10 match, and they were from America,” she said.

“We know there was no guarantee that person would agree to donate. The hospital looked at the viability of using his family, particularly his kids, as dad does not have any contact with full brothers or sisters he may have had.

“I knew that I was likely to be a match anyway and once they completed the tests, that’s when it all started.”

“I couldn’t be happier that I have had this chance to give my dad another chance at a better life,” she added.

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