Last year Maya?s pending birth was expected to provide the cord blood needed to save her brother?s life. But with Damon too sick to wait, he underwent an emergency bone marrow transplant last month.

So far Damon is progressing well and Maya arrived this week at the Royal Women?s Hospital in Sydney.

?Damon is doing really well and the doctors are happy with his progress,? Damon?s dad, Farrer Agricultural High teacher David Olrich, said.

?It looks like we?ll be back in Newcastle in a couple of weeks which will be great.?

David, 25, and his wife, Melissa, said their new daughter was ?fairly low maintenance and Damon just loves her to bits?.

?Even though we are not out of the woods yet, things are definitely a lot better and Maya is a joy to have,? he said.

Melissa, also 25, was expected to give birth to her second child when Damon was due to go back into remission.

Damon?s only chance of survival was a bone marrow transplant and specialists were hoping the cord blood from his sister would match, and Damon could have a successful transplant.

In January last year Damon was diagnosed with acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia ? a form of leukaemia effecting the formation of platelets in the bone marrow.

Since his diagnosis, Damon has received five lots of intensive chemotherapy and has spent more than six months of his young life in hospital.

He has also suffered many bouts of severe life threatening sickness.

Fortunately, Damon went into remission after three months of chemotherapy and in July he was given the all clear.

Damon was the first patient in Australia to undergo this form of treatment and survive. His progress has been monitored world-wide.

However, in November last year a routine blood test revealed that his platelet count had dropped and he was required to undergo further tests ? sadly, the leukaemia had returned.