A leukaemia patient is appealing for his long lost sister to come forward in the hope that she will give him the bone marrow transplant that could save his life.
Father-of-four Michael Coley has not seen his sister Lisa for around 20 years, but after he was diagnosed with leukaemia last week, his family is on a mission to reunite the pair. They believe she could still be living in the Black Country.
But they realise she could have married in the years since and changed her name.
“She could have the power to save his life,” said their aunt Kathleen Byng, who lives with Michael in Stone Cross, West Bromwich.
“They’ve asked us to get all his siblings tested and the doctors are waiting for the results of those tests before they decide what sort of treatment to give him. They just said it’s really important that we get her back.”
Unemployed Michael, aged 45, is receiving treatment in Sandwell General Hospital. He grew up with Lisa, aged 36, in Blackheath, along with their brother John, who was due to arrive in the region from his home in Blackpool to be tested today.
Lisa was last known to be living in Halesowen, but since the early 1980s has only been seen sporadically in passing.
Ms Byng, who works as a domestic assistant, says she does not know why they came to lose contact, but hopes the situation could bring the family back together.
“I has to rush him to hospital on Tuesday because he had chest pains,” she added.
“They discharged him and we’d just got to the corner of our road when they phone him and said we had to go back because they had found something in his blood. He’s been in the hospital ever since.”
She added: “It’s really hard at the moment, we don’t know what’s happening. He’s stuck in hospital. Sometimes he’s quite depressed, sometimes he seems to be quite jolly.”
Lisa, or anyone with information on her whereabouts, shout contact Kathleen Byng on 07852595268.
Share this article:
What are these?