Steve Pho is fighting for his life at Princess Margaret hospital.

The 23-year-old York University student, who has been suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) for three years, now has an infection to worry about.

Pho is currently undergoing chemotherapy, but his only chance of survival is to find a bone marrow match.

"He's really sick right now. He's in a lot of pain from an infection. His whole left side is swollen and bruised because his platelets are so low," said Pho's sister, Maureen.

ALL is a type of cancer that causes an overproduction of immature white blood cells that form rapidly from bone marrow. These abnormal cells cannot fight infections and swarm normal blood cells needed to treat disease.

"My brother's only 23 years old and he has a long life left to live if someone would give him that chance. Chemotherapy won't give him lasting remission. His only hope is a bone marrow transplant," Maureen said.

Family members and friends have been tested, but no match has been found. His best chances of finding a match would come from someone of Chinese-Vietnamese heritage.

"We're asking people to find it in their hearts to help save a life and get tested and let the Asian community know there's many people who need their help and are looking for bone marrow matches," Maureen said.

One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network and The Otherhalf Chinese Stem Cell Initiative will hold a donor drive for people between the ages of 17 and 50 tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church on Kennedy Rd. For information, visit chinesestemcell.ca.

Meanwhile, the Better World Today Association is holding its annual Camp 4 Compassion today and tomorrow in Wheatley for families seeking bone marrow matches.

For information, go to camp4compassion.com.

SHARON. LEM@SUNMEDIA.CA