BRAVE Holly McGuinness has given her teenage brother the greatest gift of all - his life.

When he was diagnosed with a rare medical condition, the only solution was a bone marrow transplant.

Ross McGuinness has now undergone the life-saving operation after nine-year-old Holly proved a perfect match - even though there was only a 30 per cent chance.

Fishing fanatic Ross, 13, joked that he did not want his sister's bone marrow.

But courageous Holly told him: "It's tough, you are having it anyway because I love you."

Now their parents are preparing to have "the best Christmas ever" if Ross, as expected, is allowed to leave hospital and return home.

Early this year Ross, a pupil at Cantell Scondary School, Southampton, went to hospital to discover why he kept on suffering from nosebleeds.

Through a series of tests it was discovered Ross had developed myelodysplasia, a condition suffered by one in every 500,000 people, which causes the bone marrow to stop generating red and white blood cells.

A bone marrow transplant was required and a donor had to be found. There was a 30 per cent chance that Holly would be a match but to their parents surprise she was a perfect match.

More on this story in tonight's Southern daily Echo