A mother and son from Radlett are urging people to come forward to help a young woman diagnosed with leukaemia.

Lara Casalotti, 24, was diagnosed with aggressive leukaemia while she was working in Thailand just before Christmas last year.

Due to her Chinese-Thai-Italian heritage, Miss Casalotti is struggling to find a stem cell donor that matches and a campaign was started to find the match.

Lynn and Serge Albohayre and his mother Lynn, of Lodge End, Radlett, have organised a swab bank this weekend to try to help Miss Casalotti find the match that she needs.

Mr Albohayre, 24, met Miss Casalotti at Bristol University.

He said: “When I heard the news I was distraught.

“I was travelling when Lara told me and when I got back I started reading up on it. Lara is my closest friend.

“I cannot put into words how upset and sad I feel. Because of her rare blood type, there is nothing doctors can do about it.

“She is the one person I feel comfortable about saying anything around but also the person I have spent hours with laughing.

“It’s difficult to imagine her not being involved in my life. I will do everything in my power to help her get better.”

Mr Albohayre says Miss Casalotti is still a very positive person and nobody would think that her life is in danger.

Mrs Albohayre said: “I liked Lara from the moment I met her during my son’s university graduation ceremony a couple of years ago.

“The best match for Lara is someone from the Filipino community or those with a mixed race and we are holding the saliva swab banks hoping for someone to be matched.

“I’m doing this because I could see from her eyes how much she was looking forward to the future and that is about to be taken away from her; because I recognise the pain of her parents; and because I just cannot accept any of us giving up.”

The campaign has reached international level, with Prime Minister David Cameron backing it during Prime Minister's Questions.

It and has also attracted support from a number of from celebrities from around the world including JK Rowling, Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Fry.

Miss Casalotti, of Belsize Park, London, is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the University College Hospital in London.

Her mother, Supanya Lamsam, said: “We’ve been totally overwhelmed by the kindness of total strangers wanting to help. We’re trying to find a needle in a haystack and need all the help we can get. All the publicity is fantastic but we need to convert that into people actually getting tested.

“People can turn up at these donor drives and literally just need to spit in a tube or have a cheek swab to be tested.

“We’re really up against the clock as it can take more than a month for people’s saliva to be fully checked to see if it’s a match for Lara or any other patients.

“Lara needs stem cells as soon as possible.”

The international campaign to find the rare stem cell donor will hold a swab bank in the Burnt Oak Annunciation Church is 4 Thirleby Road, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 0HQ on Sunday.

The sessions are open to anyone aged between 18 and 55.