Bermudians are being urged to participate in another stem cell donor drive to save the life of Diane Dismont who is in the final stages of leukaemia.

Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler and his Opposition counterpart Louise Jackson made a joint appeal for help at a Press conference yesterday.

The donor drive, sponsored by Boston?s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, takes place on the first weekend of October and all are asked to be tested.

Ms Dismont?s family members have all been tested but no match was found. Matching tissue is more likely to be found among black people.

Volunteers are asked to show up for a blood test at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on Friday, October 1, between noon and 4 p.m. or Saturday, October 2 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

They must be between the ages of 18 and 59, in good general health, free of all chronic diseases and not excessively overweight.

Volunteers can also register on the National Marrow Donor Programme (NMDP) on behalf of another patient in need.

The NMDP maintains the world?s largest registry of potential volunteer marrow and blood stem cell donors.

?Leukaemia is a horrible disease,? Mrs. Jackson said. ?We just lost a Bermudian a week ago to this disease. The donors did not come fast enough for that lady.?

Mr. Butler praised the generosity of Bermudians and said he was sure that a donor would be found.

?We?ve done it before and I?m sure we?ll do it again.

?This is one of our own citizens so I?d like for the community to rally behind this particular effort so we can save her life.?

Another testing date has been added in the search for a match for Ms Dismont after an overwhelming response from the public.

A stem cell transplant could save the life of Ms Dismont who is believed to be the only person in Bermuda with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) ? a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.

She was diagnosed three years ago.