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A pioneering way of finding bone marrow donors will be used for the first time in a bid to save the life of a London vicar's wife.
Volunteers who want to help Rachel Baughen, who is suffering from chronic myeloid leukaemia, will be given a saliva test to see if they are compatible instead of a blood test.
Mrs Baughen, 47, whose husband Andrew is vicar at St James Church in Clerkenwell Green, desperately needs a marrow transplant because she is intolerant to the medication normally given to treat people with her condition.
Her daughters Charlotte, 18, and Harriet, 16, are urging volunteers to come to the church to be tested on Wednesday.
Charlotte, who is studying medicine at Cardiff University, said: "This is the one last chance for mum to find a donor, so Harriet and I are doing everything possible to get donors along to the clinic." The Anthony Nolan Trust is piloting saliva tests, and if they are successful it will use the technique for all people joining the bone marrow register from next year.
Mrs Baughen said: "It is possible someone will turn up who will also be a match for someone else."
The clinic will be at St James Church, Clerkenwell Close, on Wednesday from noon to 2.30pm and 4.30pm to 7pm.
