THE desperate search to find a bone marrow donor for a young boy continued over the weekend.

More than 20,000 people have so far signed up as bone marrow donors for six-year-old Marley Nicholls, who is battling the rare blood condition aplastic anaemia.

Without a transplant, doctors have said he could die in the next few years.

In an attempt to find a donor, parents Joe Nicholls and Shaney Truman arranged a session for hundreds of people to sign up as donors at Rodney Parade on the weekend.

Mr Nicholls said: "We know there will be a lot of people here for the football match.

"That is basically why we decided to come to the grounds.

"Newport County generously allowed us to come here. We are hoping to get a couple of hundred of people.

"So far we have had more than 100 people - and we have only been open for 30 minutes."

He added that both he and Marley's mum are remaining hopeful that a donor can be found.

"We have to remain positive," he said.

"We just have to find that person, who can help us save our son's life.

"None of us will give up."

And Ms Truman said: "Marley is a fan of Newport County. He is very excited that we are here for him.

"He is also going to be the mascot for the day. He is excited about this, like any child would be.

"Us being here is raising even more publicity. Other families, not just ours, are going to hopefully benefit from what we are doing."

She added: "We are remaining positive for Marley. But I am starting to panic more recently.

"I just hope we get manage to find someone who can be his donor."

Despite the vast number of donors, the family were recently told that there is currently no-one on the worldwide register who is currently a match for Marley.

For more information on the campaign, visit the Facebook group Marrow for Marley.