Australian man whose blood protected 2.4 million babies dies
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Mr James Harrison rolled up his sleeve and donated blood 1,173 times over 64 years.
PHOTO: AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS LIFEBLOOD
SYDNEY – An Australian known as the “Man with the Golden Arm” for protecting 2.4 million babies with his rare, antibody-rich blood plasma has died at 88, health officials said.
Mr James Harrison rolled up his sleeve and donated blood 1,173 times
His plasma contained a rare antibody, known as Anti-D, used to make a medication for mothers whose blood was at risk of attacking their unborn babies – a condition known as rhesus D haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn (HDFN).
While it is impossible to know how many babies would have died without Anti-D protection, HDFN affected as many as one in 100 women until 1966, government data shows.
Following the success of a 1966 Anti-D trial in Australia, Lifeblood looked for people who had the antibody to scale up the project.
Mr Harrison fitted the bill.
He had started donating a few years earlier and never missed a single appointment until his retirement in 2018, Lifeblood said.
His blood was used to make 2.4 million doses.
Of his 1,173 donations, 1,163 were from his right arm and 10 from his left, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
“It didn’t hurt in the right arm,” he told the publication, although he never watched the needle go in.
Mr Harrison died in his sleep at a nursing home in New South Wales Central Coast on Feb 17.
Among his blood recipients is daughter Tracey Mellowship, who said Mr Harrison would be greatly missed.
“James was a humanitarian at heart, but also very funny,” she noted. “As an Anti-D recipient myself, he has left behind a family that may not have existed without his precious donations.
“He was also very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain. It made him happy to hear about the many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness.”
Lifeblood chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said Mr Harrison leaves behind “an incredible legacy”.
“It was his hope that one day, someone in Australia would beat his donation record.”
About 17 per cent of pregnant women require Anti-D, but finding donors for the programme remains difficult, the government said.
Scientists hope to use blood from Mr Harrison and other donors to recreate Anti-D antibodies in the laboratory, helping to prevent HDFN worldwide. AFP
