Pete McCleave must find a blood stem cell donor who matches his mixed, unique Chinese-Portugese heritage if he is to survive.

"Everyone has a genetic twin somewhere out there," he said. "I am just still looking for mine."

Pete, who lives in the Cheshire village of Bunbury, which is also home to INEOS’ Communications Director Tom Crotty, was diagnosed with myeloma in March 2017 - just six months after he had completed one of the toughest triathlons in the world.

He had gone to the doctors complaining of backache after the Ironman Wales Triathlon and was told he had seven years to live.

“I just didn’t see it coming,” he said. “I had no history of illness. And even to this day, I look at myself in the mirror and acknowledge that on the surface, all may look in hand but beneath my skin, there is a battle going on. My body is attacking itself.”

The disease has affected 41-year-old Pete’s immune system.

But a donor’s healthy stem cells could be transplanted into his body to give him a new one – and effectively change his life.

“What you realise is that we all have a connection, not just to our immediate circle of friends, but to each and every person on this planet,” he said. “We have so much more in common with one another than not.”

Anyone between the ages of 18-55 and in general good health can become a potential blood stem cell donor.

For more information about DKMS, which is an international, non-profit organisation, go to: www.dkms.org/en