TIME is running out for a Brierley Hill teenager who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant.

Omar Al-Shaikh thought his battle with leukaemia was over when he received the all clear in October last year but his joy was short-lived as he was told the disease had returned last month.

Doctors at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where the 16-year-old is being treated, say his only hope is to find someone to donate their stem cells.

But the youngster, who enrolled at Four Dwellings Academy, Quinton, after moving to England from Jordan in 2013, has a challenging time ahead.

His mixed heritage makes it is harder to find a suitable donor and despite all hopes being pinned on his 12-year-old sister, Dana, tests revealed she was not a match.

The race is now on to find a donor and his worried mother, Mirabela Al-Shaikh, of Madison Avenue, has issued a heartfelt plea for people to put themselves forward.

She said: "We've been told we need to find a match within three months or he doesn't have much chance.

"If they can't find a close match, they will do a transplant with a 50 per cent match but that does not have much success - it's a big worry."

The 38-year-old continued: "If anybody could come forward and donate, whether they are mixed race or not, they could make a real difference and save lives.

"The more people that come forward, the more chance there is for my son and other kids."

His aunt, Anca Dumitriu said it was important to find a donor as Omar has "his whole future ahead of him".

She added: "A bone marrow transplant needs to take place as soon as possible. The closer the match, the better his chances are and the higher his survival rate will be."

A Facebook page called Finding the Match for omar has attracted more than 300 likes and the family are using the social networking site to encourage people to join the Anthony Nolan register.

The charity is able to find more than 1,000 matches for those in need every year as more than 500,000 adults have joined the register.

Ann O’Leary, head of register development at the charity, said: “Anthony Nolan is currently looking for a matching donor for Omar and we are supporting his family in calling for more potential donors to join the register.

"It is particularly important that young men and people from black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds sign up as they are currently underrepresented on our register.”

She added: “Joining is a very simple process but one that could save a life. It just involves filling in an online form and then providing a saliva sample.

"If you are found to be a match for a patient like Omar, you are most likely to donate your stem cells through a simple outpatient procedure which is similar to giving blood."

For more information or to register as a donor, visit www.anthonynolan.org.