WATCHING Chelsea play at the weekend meant more than usual for one Blues fan as he sat beside the man who saved his life.

Cancer survivor and Hammersmith resident Paul Walshe, 38, was diagnosed with Leukaemia in 2007 and informed that he would need a stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor after his sister was tested and found not to be a match.

Through the Anthony Nolan stem cell register, Liverpool resident & Everton fan Andy Mitchell, 38, was told he was a match in February 2008.

Within six months he had donated and given Paul a vital lifeline.

Upon hearing their remarkable story, both football clubs invited the pair to watch their teams battle it out. Paul travelled up to Goodison Park at the end of last season and on Saturday, Andy visited Stamford Bridge.

Paul, said: "When Everton heard about our story, they offered us tickets to the last game of the season, when they were at home to Chelsea. Four months later, Chelsea got in touch to say they wanted to return the favour, so this time it was Andy's turn to sit down the wrong end. I also took him to meet my family, who couldn't wait to say thank you in person. Without Andy, I wouldn't be here - it's as simple as that."

Due to strict anonymity rules, the pair had not made contact until December last year when Paul sent Andy a Christmas card to say thank you.

Andy, said: "When Anthony Nolan rang me to say that my recipient wanted to get in touch with me, I agreed straightaway. After I received Paul's card, we spoke on the phone for an hour. He kept saying thanks, but I had to tell him that I didn't really do anything as donating is such a straightforward process. The first time we met, I took him to Goodison Park to watch Everton play - he wasn't happy."

The day was made even better for Paul as Chelsea beat the visitors 3-1, making up for their 1-0 loss which he witnessed when he travelled up to Liverpool in May.

Anthony Nolan is a charity which helps save the lives of people with blood cancer by using their register to match them with donors willing to donate their blood stem cells.

There are currently 420,000 people on the register.