GENESEO, Illinois-- The Curran family hosted the first of many bone marrow drives to find a match for a family member fighting cancer Sunday, April 9.
65-year-old Mike Curran was diagnosed with leukemia in February and is in need of a bone marrow transplant. Doctors tested multiple family members to find a potential match, with no luck. That's when Abbey Curran decided to hold a bone marrow drive to search for someone who can help her father.
"I'm very excited and hopeful. I'm hoping (people will) bring their friends and their friend's friends...I'm not going to turn anyone away... I've never wanted something so bad," says Abbey, who is the first Miss USA contestant to compete with cerebral palsy in 2008.
The event called Match2Mike brought more than 60 potential donors to Raelyn's Pub and Eatery, there they took mouth swabs to determine whether or not they're a match.
Jeff Minteer, did not know Mike Curran personally but he and his wife drove from Rock Island to Geneseo to test themselves.
" I think it's easy for me and ...a lot of people to feel like they want to do something for somebody else, for me especially
(because it's) someone I don't know." says Minteer.
If a potential match is not found, the family plans to continue to host bone marrow drives until they find someone who can help.
The next one will be in Kewanee, Illinois Saturday, April 15, at Cerno's Bar and Grill.