Terminally-ill Gladys Martin has fulfilled her final dying wish -- with one last trip to Bermuda.

Because 84-year-old Gladys, given only months to live, flew out to Bermuda from her home on the US West Coast after being granted special permission by her doctors.

She has now visited the Island more than 100 times, coming every year for 37 years.

But only a miracle can stop this from being her last visit, as her specialists have already diagnosed unstoppable cancer.

Doctors wanted Gladys to stay at home for more treatment.

But she told them her life would be fulfilled if she saw Bermuda's shores one last time before she died.

Gladys, originally from Boston, set the tears flowing at a party to celebrate her life yesterday.

The event, thrown by family and friends, was held at the Sonesta Beach Hotel, where Gladys has stayed each time she's set foot on Bermudian soil.

Premier Pamela Gordon and Tourism Minister David Dodwell were among 50 invited guests who gave her a commemorative plaque.

And Gladys wiped back tears to tell The Royal Gazette how her Bermuda-based friends had made her life more worth living.

"I don't let the bad times get me down,'' she said. "How could I in Bermuda? This is the best place in the world. It's where I'm happiest.'' Gladys, a former schoolteacher, moved to Washington State when her illness began to take hold, to be nearer daughters Janice and Pamela.

Husband Richard, who visited Bermuda only once, died in 1975.

And Gladys will bid farewell to Bermuda tomorrow, when she flies back home to face up to her illness again.

"That's not important to me right now,'' she said. "I want happiness in my life and that means being in Bermuda.

"Where else in the world is there? I've been travelling but to me, this is where the people are friendliest. I've always loved it so much that I came six times in one year once. It's just perfect.'' Friends said Gladys -- once known as Disco Gladys because of her love for dancing -- was putting a brave face on her illness.

Margi Gordyk, who met Gladys through years of working at the Sonesta, organised yesterday's party.

She said: "Gladys is just happy to be alive to see Bermuda yet again. She's a very, very brave lady who speaks quite frankly about her illness.

"She's not scared of it and she really is a remarkable person.''