James Harrison is a prolific Australian blood donor known for saving more than 2 million babies at the age of 88.
According to the Australian Red Cross hit, Harrison’s plasma contains a “rare antibody” called anti-D, donating more than 1,100 blood times.
Harrison was known as the “Golden Arm Man” during sleep in a nursing home in northern Sydney on February 17, the statement said.
Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by multiple blood transfusions after undergoing lung surgery at the age of 14.
He started donating plasma at the age of 18 and once every two weeks until he was 81, which is the upper limit for blood donation in Australia.
Lifeline CEO Stephen Cornelissen cheered Harrison’s dedication.
“James is an amazing, kind, generous man who is dedicated to his lifelong dedication and has captured the hearts of many people in the world,” Connilson said in a statement.
“James stretched out his arm to help others and babies, he would never know 1173 times without any reward.”
Harrison’s daughter Tracey Mellowship said her father was “humanist inside.”
“As an anti-D recipient, he left behind a family that may not have his valuable contributions,” she said in a statement.
“He also proudly saved a lot of lives without any cost or pain. It made him happy to hear that many families like us exist because of his kindness.”
Anti-D is used to make drugs for pregnant women whose blood attacks the blood cells of unborn babies, called rhesus monkeys.
This disease develops when pregnant women suffer from rhesus-negative blood (RHD-negative), and the Ganges-positive blood (RHD-positive) of babies in the uterus is inherited from their father.
Anti-D produced with Harrison’s antibody prevents rhesus monkey negative blood from developing RHD antibodies during pregnancy.
Australian officials say the discovery of Harrison’s antibody is definitely a game-changer.
“In Australia, until around 1967, thousands of babies died every year, and doctors don’t know why, that’s bad. “Women have a lot of miscarriages when babies are born,” Jemma Falkenmire of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service told CNN in 2015. ”
“Australia was one of the first countries to discover blood donors using this antibody, so it was revolutionary at the time.”
Harrison is considered a national hero and has won numerous awards for his generous donation, including the Australian Order, one of the country’s highest honors.
