NICOLA Coates has finally met the man who saved her life with a transatlantic bone marrow transplant.

The 28-year-old and her parents, Gary and Hazel, told today of the "unbelievable" reception they received when they flew to America last month and spent a week with Scott Wittchow and his wife, Gretchen.

Nicola, of Wheldrake, near York, who has made a good recovery from leukaemia since receiving Scott's marrow in early 2000, was showered with gifts and best wishes from his family, friends and colleagues in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin.

At a banquet, people gave her family a standing ovation after hearing their heart-rending story.

Nicola was suffering from her third bout of leukaemia since childhood when she underwent the transplant. Her sister, Helen, had died from a different cancer of the blood eight years earlier.

Nicola only discovered Scott's identity last year, and this was her first chance to thank him face-to-face for what he had done.

And she really looked up to her donor - while Nicola is only 5ft 1in tall, Scott is a remarkable 6ft 7in!

"It was wonderful. Meeting him was like putting in the final piece in the jigsaw," she said.

Gary said it had been hard to express his gratitude to Scott. "What do you say to the man who saved your daughter's life? You cannot put it into words. Words are not enough. He is a big man with a big heart."

Hazel said the family had been treated like royalty during what had been a holiday of a lifetime.

Scott said the time he had spent with the Coates family was one of the most incredible weeks of his life.

"For just over three years, Gretchen and I have been praying that we would have the opportunity to personally meet Nicola, because that would mean that she had survived the transplant."

He said Nicola and her parents were three of the bravest people he had ever met.

"Again and again, they have looked adversity and despair in the eye, but they have remained positive, they have fought when others might have easily succumbed.

"All three of them are heroes in my eyes for what they have gone through."

Scott, who is managing editor of a newspaper in Fond Du Lac, joined an American register of potential marrow donors in 1987 after writing a story about a woman who needed a transplant.

Before he was found to be a perfect match for Nicola, the Evening Press had run a Race For A Donor campaign which had led to scores of North Yorkshire people joining the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust's register of potential donors.

Updated: 10:57 Monday, June 09, 2003