Staring into the eyes of the little Chinese girl as she held her for the first time, mother-of-three Linda Wells knew her life was about to change forever. 'I was about to become a mum again,' said the 50-year-old. 'And when I looked into her eyes and held her in my arms, I knew we had made the right decision.' But neither Linda, an international lawyer, nor her husband Owen, 51, the owner of a graphic design business, could have realised the cruel fate that was to befall their adopted daughter, Kailee Makena Wells, on her fifth birthday. Nor could they have known that the same fate would lead them back to China to try to find the woman who brought Kailee into the world - to ask her to give the little girl a second chance. 'China gave my daughter life, and now I must ask it to give her life again,' said Mrs Wells. 'Although Kailee is my daughter and now lives in America, she is a daughter of China also. 'I have come to China to respectfully ask for them to help me and my family save the life of our little girl.' Kailee, six, suffers severe aplastic anaemia, a rare blood disease, and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. A biological sibling is the most likely source of a donor match. She was abandoned as a 10-day-old baby on the doorstep of the Teacher's Training College in Changde, Hunan province. Nothing has been heard since from her biological family. The plight to save Kailee has triggered a massive and unprecedented campaign across China to find a genetic match. China's Red Cross organisation has mobilised an army of workers in testing centres across the country in readiness for the launch of the Save Kailee campaign in Beijing today. Mrs Wells said she hoped to appeal 'mother to mother' to the people of China. 'When my husband and I came to China to adopt Kailee in March, 1998, it was clear to us that the orphanage had taken very good care of Kailee. 'She was very healthy and happy and obviously very smart for her age. 'By the time we returned to our home in the US, two weeks later, there was no doubt Kailee already loved us as her parents, and we loved her as our very precious little daughter. 'Kailee has been our daughter for five years now. The first four years were perfect in every way.' She went to a private school, took ballet lessons and learned how to swim and do gymnastics. 'She became a very accomplished helper in the kitchen and, most importantly, she was very, very healthy. She never got sick. 'Then one day everything changed.' Kailee has been described as a 'walking time bomb' by doctors, who say she could die if she does not have a bone marrow transplant soon. With time running out, the Wells family have re-arranged their lives to save their daughter. Mrs Wells quit her job and took Kailee out of school. They sold their family home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to find somewhere they could live on one wage and that was closer to hospital care. After scouting around for an expert on aplastic anaemia, they eventually found David Margolis at the Medical College of Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. Life now consists of shuttling to and from hospital, from one end of the country to the other. Mr Wells has cut back his work schedule and is caring for Kailee while his wife in China. The Wells family know the clock is ticking for Kailee and the coming days will be crucial. Graphic: KAIL18GET
