P.E.I. to host bone marrow search for N.B. infant Marlie Curwin

All it takes is a quick swab of the inside of your mouth to see if you can help save the life of New Brunswick infantMarlieCurwin.

Curwinwas diagnosed with acute myeloidleukemia, an aggressive form of the blood cancer, in January, and isn't responding to chemotherapy as doctors had hoped.

• Marlie Curwin seeks life-saving bone marrow donor

This little girl needs to feel better. Jessica Simmonds

A drive to find bone marrow donor for the one-year-old cancer patient will happen Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown.

Events across Maritimes

"I have a little girl, she's six months old and I just can't imagine her going through what Marlie's going through," said the event's volunteer organizer Jessica Simmonds of Morell, P.E.I.

After hearing about Marlie's plight, the single mom, 32, contacted Canadian Blood Services OneMatch program, which is helping mount the Sunday drive.

The next step will be a bone marrow transplant in Toronto said Marlie's cousin Allison Butcher, who's been helping to organize bone marrow registry and blood donor events all over New Brunswick and Nova Scotia the past two months in a bid to find a match for Marlie.

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'Could be the largest one yet'

Potential donors must be between the ages of 17 and 35, and although anyone is welcome, OneMatch would like to see men turn out, since bone marrow transplants from males are more likely to be successful, Simmonds said.

She is urging those not in that age range who would still like to helpto volunteer at the event. Volunteers will be trained by OneMatch to swab cheeks, a process that should take only five to 10 minutes.

Goal of 300 people

"The P.E.I. event is looking like it could be the largest one yet," said Simmonds, who adds she'd "love a turnout of at least 300."

More than 350 people have already confirmed attendance or interest in the Charlottetown event on Facebook.

The Help for Marlie Facebook page notes that when volunteers are swabbed through the process, they must agree to help any patient, anywhere in the world, any time.

The agreement allows OneMatch to access a pool of 25 million donors worldwide.

Long shot worth taking

Finding a match from someone outside Marlie's family seems to be a long shot, but Simmonds believes it's one worth taking.

"That would be totally amazing. This little girl needs to feel better," she said, choking up.

There are approximately 1,000 Canadian cancer patients in need of stem cells, according to the page.

Those interested in participating but seeking more information can visit blood.ca/stem-cells, and get a swabbing kit through the mail.