This Australian man's blood has saved millions of babies

Nicknamed the 'man with the golden arm', how one Australian man single-handedly saved millions of babies from a deadly disease thanks to a unique antibody in his blood.

Blood from Aussie’s "golden arm" saves millions of babies from deadly disease. (Screenshot: CNN)

Blood from Aussie’s "golden arm" saves millions of babies from deadly disease. (Screenshot: CNN) Source: CNN

On the surface, James Harrison is just an average guy.

He loves his daughter and grandchildren, he collects stamps, he goes for walks near his home on the Central Coast in NSW.

But it’s what flowing in his veins that makes Harrison extraordinary.

Nicknamed "the man with the golden arm", Harrison has been donating his blood nearly every week for the past 60 years.

"In 1951, I had a chest operation which they removed a lung. And they said I had 13 units of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people," Harrison told CNN.

Not long after Harrison became a donor, doctors said his blood could be the answer to a baffling problem in Australia.

“In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn't know why, and it was awful. Women were having numerous miscarriages, and babies were being born with brain damage,” said Jemma Falkenmire from the Red Cross Blood Service.

“Researchers discovered anti-D and James was discovered to have this antibody in his blood – which was amazing."

The mysterious illness was Rhesus Disease, a condition where a pregnant woman's blood actually starts attacking her unborn baby's blood cells. In the worst case, it can result in brain damage, or death, for the babies.

"Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody,” said Falkenmire, “So it was quite revolutionary at the time. James effectively helped babies in Australia but he's helped babies all around the world."

Harrison worked with doctors to develop a vaccine using the antibodies in his blood. At the donor center, his plasma gets separated from the red blood cells. He gets those back, and the plasma heads off to become the vaccine. 

According to the Red Cross blood service, Harrison and his vaccine have saved the lives of more than two million babies.

"Every batch of anti-D that has ever been made in Australia has come from James' blood," Falkenmire said. "And more than 17 per cent of women in Australia are at risk, so James has helped save a lot of lives."

Some have called him a hero but Harrison doesn’t see it that way, saying that donating blood is probably his "only talent."

"It was quite humbling, as you get further into it. It becomes more humbling when they say you've done this, or you've done that, or you're a hero - no, no. It's something I can do. It's one of my talents, probably my only talent, is that I can be a blood donor."


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3 min read

Published

Updated

By Sanjay Gupta

Source: CNN


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