THE family and friends of a young man in desperate need of a life-saving blood stem transplant are appealing to members of the Blackburn Asian community to help save his life.

Zahier Kazmi, 23, from Bradford, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma three years ago and is in desperate need of a transplant from a matching donor.

He has been having treatment for the illness, which is similar to cancer of the blood, but it keeps coming back.

And now the only treatment remaining is a bone marrow transplant.

Although Zahier is from Bradford he has friends in Blackburn who are desperately appealing to the local Asian communities for their help.

There are a number of patients in the Blackburn area suffering from life-threatening diseases, such as leukaemia.

As a result the Anthony Nolan Trust holding a Stem Cell Donor Recruitment Clinic in Blackburn on May 4.

Megan Godden, donor recruitment officer, said that there were tens of thousands of requests for donors every year worldwide.

She said: "Every year of that number we only get 500 donors because it's so difficult to get a match, particularly when the patient is of an ethnic minority.

"That is why it is so important that we encourage and recruit members of the Asian Community."

Donors must be healthy and aged 18 to 40. The clinics work on a drop-in basis and tests only take half an hour. Prospective donors will be required to give a blood sample so their tissue can be tested to see if they match with any of the patients.

The clinic will be at Audley and Queen's Park Neighbourhood Learning centre, Pringle Street, between 5pm and 8pm.