A DESPERATELY ill schoolgirl diagnosed as suffering from a rare blood disorder has lost her five-month fight for life, her family said today.

Seven-year-old Shannon Bradshaw, of Great Sankey, Warrington, Cheshire, had aplastic anaemia and urgently needed a bone marrow transplant.

But by the time a suitable donor was found the youngster had been transferred to the intensive care unit of Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool after contracting pneumonia.

Today her aunt Jacky Schofield urged people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan Trust bone marrow register as a lasting tribute to her niece who died yesterday with parents Patti and Alan by her bedside.