The man died in Australia at the age of 88. For more than 60 years, he donated his blood, which contained a rare antibody “Anti-D“. Thanks to this, he saved more than 2 million children.
He was only 14 years old when he decided to become a donor. At that age, James Harrison, a young Australian, received several transfusions while undergoing an operation for a serious chest problem. Four years later, just an adult, he began donating his blood plasma for the first time. Before holding the world record for the discipline for 17 years.
On February 17, at the age of 88, and after giving blood for 63 years, he died in a retirement home in New South Wales, Australia, reports the BBC.
He has saved the lives of over 2 million babies
Throughout his life, James Harrison was known in Australia as “the man with the golden arm.” The reason? His blood contained a rare antibody called “Anti-D,” which is used to make drugs given to pregnant women whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn baby.
Vaccines are given to protect unborn babies from a deadly blood disease called hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. It occurs during pregnancy when the mother’s red blood cells are incompatible with those of the growing child.
Before D-interventions were developed in the mid-1960s, one in two babies died from it. Through his many donations, James Harrison helped save 2.4 million babies. “He was very proud that he saved so many lives, without cost or pain,” said Tracey Mellowship, his daughter. “He always said it didn’t hurt and the life you save could be your own,” she added.
Researchers don’t know why his blood contained so much.
While it saved so many lives, researchers and doctors aren’t sure why his blood became so high in anti-D. But reports suggest it may be related to the massive blood transfusion he received at age 14.
In Australia, donors are rare: there are only 200 of them, says the country’s Red Cross. Each year, they help 45,000 mothers and their babies.
With their help and their blood plasma, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research is working to produce “anti-D antibodies” in the lab by replicating the blood and immune cells of James Harrison and other donors. The researchers involved hope that lab-made anti-D could one day be used to help pregnant women around the world.