Matt Carver, 22, has been given weeks to live by doctors, dashing his hopes of being saved by a bone marrow transplant.

His fiancee Nicola Godfrey, from Garforth, Leeds, had urged people to go to a bone marrow clinic organised by her parents.

But tragically it is too late for Matt to have a transplant so the couple have decided to bring their wedding forward.

Nicola, 21, said: "We did not have to think twice about it. We got engaged before Matt got ill so it's what we have been planning for a long time. We didn't really see why this should stop us."

The couple, who met while studying at Oxford University, will marry at Brasenose College Chapel in the city next Thursday.

"It's absolutely everything we had dreamed of," Nicola said. "We wanted a traditional white wedding and we have arranged to get married in Oxford which is where we met.

"I'm really looking forward to it but it's going to be a difficult day for everybody."

Matt, from Newport in Wales, will don top hat and tails while Nicola has found an off-the-peg wedding gown.

The illness has left Matt struggling to walk but Nicola said he was excited about their big day.

"He is quite weak now and that's frustrating him. He hates the fact that he cannot do anything for himself," she said. "But he is fantastically positive and he is staying strong for everybody else."

Matt was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in January. Since then he has had chemotherapy and radiotherapy but hoped to have a bone marrow transplant.

Donor recruitment sessions to sign people up to the national register were held in Oxford, Newport and Leeds.

Nicola's dad Byron said: "We want to thank everyone who came along to the clinic in Garforth.

"The Anthony Nolan Trust were really happy because we had got 45 people signed up to the register and most of those were young people which is a big bonus."

Even though Matt was given the devastating news that the leukaemia had come back and a transplant was no longer an option, the couple are still keen to encourage others to join the bone marrow register.

Nicola, a former Garforth Community College student, added: "The more people that sign up the better. Matt unfortunately ended up in a position where a bone marrow transplant was not the right option for him, but there are so many people out there waiting and the thought of this happening to them is unbearable."

To join the bone marrow register, log on to www.anthonynolan.org.uk or www.blood.co.uk.
katie.baldwin@ypn.co.uk

Fears over plan to move Leeds blood centre