A RETIRED journalist who was told he had just days to live after being diagnosed with leukaemia has met the stem cell donor who saved his life... eight years on.

Meeting at the offices of DKMS – a charity which aims to recruit stem cell donors – Ivor Godfrey-Davis, 73, from Andover, Hampshire, smiled and hugged his donor Mark Jones, a 54-year-old railway worker from Sible Hedingham.

Mr Godfrey-Davis was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in January 2015 and was told by a doctor he had “seven to ten days at the most”.

Braintree and Witham Times: Ivor has thanked Mark for his sacrificeIvor has thanked Mark for his sacrifice (Image: PA Wire)

He then received chemotherapy at Southampton Hospital in June 2015, which was successful, but doctors told him he had a high chance of relapsing and the cancer returning.

A stem cell transplant really was the only real hope of any success.

However, due to his unusual genetic make-up, there was initially no stem cell match for Mr Godfrey-Davis.

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A few weeks later he received the news that two possible donors had emerged – one in the UK and one in Germany.

In August 2015, he received a stem cell transplant from the donor in the UK – who turned out to be Mr Jones – and the transplant was successful.

Now both have met for the first time.

Braintree and Witham Times: Ivor and Mark meeting for the first time in LondonIvor and Mark meeting for the first time in London (Image: PA Wire)

Mr Jones was inspired to join DKMS’s stem cell register in 2014 after seeing a story on Facebook about an American boy who received a stem cell transplant to fight his leukaemia.

He said: “I applied for the pack, it came through – one of the easiest things I’ve ever done – and the rest is history.

“I remember getting a phone call saying ‘well, you’re a match’ and I was like, ‘oh my god’.”

“I sat in the chair for five-and-a-half hours and essentially gave blood, such an easy process to go through.

“I had no ill effects, I was able to go back to work the next day without any problems whatsoever.”

Mr Godfrey-Davis said: “I would have probably been dead eight years ago but for people like Mark making donations.

“I’m delighted to have been able to make Mark’s sacrifice worthwhile by still being here today.”