BBC presenter with leukaemia finds last-minute stem cell donor

Sue Lloyd-Roberts has found a match after the BBC launched an appeal for donors

Lloys-Roberts has reported from many of the most dangerous countries in the world (Rex images)

The award-winning journalist diagnosed with leukaemia has found a donor after a the BBC launched an appeal on her behalf.

Sue Lloyd Roberts tweeted on Sunday that she had found a match and would return to hospital in two weeks for a stem cell transplant to cure her aggressive form of the disease.

The BBC hosted an open day at New Broadcasting House on 22 June to encourage potential donors to come forward.

The renowned investigative reporter tweeted:

Her initial donor was found to be unsuitable at the last moment forcing her back to square one.

Roberts, 62, was first diagnosed when she collapsed at the Majorca hotel she runs with her husband, BBC producer Nick Guthrie in January.

After tests at University College London hospital she underwent chemotherapy while she waited for a stem cell donor.

She is currently in remission but needs the donor to cure her of the disease completely. Tests have shown her white cell platelets are too low for her to attempt another round of chemotherapy and it was now "a race against time".

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 can register to be a donor.

She told the Daily Mail: “I have been mired in hell for six months.

“The kind of leukaemia I have means I need a stem cell transplant to survive. It is vital. I was mightily annoyed when I discovered what I had because I have always been a fitness fanatic. But I believe in getting on with it.”

Writing in the Independent, Lloyd-Roberts said the disease had forced her to put her life on hold as she could not work. She described her experience with chemotherapy: "I found the incarceration hard to bear. I have always been an active person. "