People who donate their stem cells are like ‘gold-dust’, according to a father-of-two desperate to find a bone marrow match.

Jaso Manokaran fell ill last October, experiencing severe pain in his bones and a fever-like temperature.

After being rushed to A&E again and again, doctors ordered a bone biopsy which revealed the 29-year-old had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

He said: “I thought it was a viral infection, I didn’t expect it to be cancer at all. When my consultant said I had leukaemia, I was crying like a river. I couldn’t really hear what he was saying, I was so worried.”

While undergoing chemotherapy, Jaso was told that he needed a bone marrow transplant – but he has no siblings who could be a match and is a Sri Lankan Tamil, which means he has only a 20.5 per cent chance of finding a match on the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register.

He added: “It felt like a double dose of bad news. I had no idea what a transplant was, I had so many questions: How will I get it? Where will I get it? How will I find a match? I was so worried.

“Now it’s not in my hands, I can’t run around and get it myself - I need a stranger to save my life. Anyone who signs up to the register is priceless, not only to me but to everyone waiting for a transplant. These people are so selfless and special, they’re like gold-dust.”

Mr Manokaran's wife Jasmini started the ‘Help Save Jaso’ campaign to recruit more people to the register - especially people from Tamil and Sri Lankan communities – in the hope of finding a match for her husband.

She said: “It’s been a scary time for all of us but I was so inspired to get going for Jaso. I have found that many people from my community don’t know how to sign up to the register and many myths around donating have come up.

“Some people think it’s a big operation or involves lengthy surgery because of the word ‘bone’ but this is not true - now the process is usually just like giving blood.”

Anyone aged 16 to 30 can sign up to the Anthony Nolan register at www.anthonynolan.org and to follow Jaso’s story, go to ‘Help Save Jaso’.