A YORK mum will be raising money and awareness of blood cancer when she takes to the skies in a hang-glider on Monday.

Jayne Snell, 45, was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer in 2011. Her children, Matt and Jess, were then 12 and 15.

Jayne said: “It was just devastating. I just wanted to be a mum, to be with my children.”

Then in February 2012, a second blood cancer was discovered. It was clear a stem cell transplant would be required. In hospital, Jayne had to go into isolation to guard against any infection.

A few months later, the good news came in. Jayne had a donor: an unnamed, 22-year-old German man.

She said: “He saved my life and because of him, my husband still has a wife and my two children still have a mum. I was so lucky. I went into hospital and had six days of the strongest chemo. Then we were sent the stem cells. It was like a little bag of miracles.

“The procedure was quite remarkable, like a blood transplant, not invasive at all.

“I actually changed blood type. I’m now A+, which I like. It’s like getting a good grade.”

Jayne now tries to do something special on each ‘transplant birthday’, from renewing her wedding vows with husband Martin, to going on holiday and running the York 5k. She also decided to visit people donating their stem cells to thank them, and tell them how important it is.

It was when she was at one such donation that she met Judy who, it transpired, enjoys hang-gliding. Indeed, she turned out to be three-times world hang-gliding champion, Judy Leden MBE.

The pair decided to do something to tackle the shortage of blood stem cell donors in this country. Judy said: “To be able to give someone a chance of recovery from cancer is a wonderful feeling. Meeting Jayne made me realise what a difference a stem cell donation can make and I can’t think of a better way of celebrating her recovery than to take her to play in the clouds.”

Jayne said: “I’m scared. I have to not think about it. I’m sure when we’re up there though that it will be beautiful.”

She is also passionate about spreading the word about stem cell donations. “If you are a match with someone, in most cases it’s just like giving blood. It just takes slightly longer.”

Jayne now writes to her German donor after he agreed to pass on his details. She hopes one day they might meet and she can thank him.

Every 20 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with a blood cancer such as Leukaemia, Lymphoma or Myeloma. People can register as potential blood stem cell donors via the Delete Blood Cancer UK website at www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk

You can support Jayne by donating at: www.virginmoneygiving.com/jaynesnell