Blood donor, whose ‘golden arm’ helped save 2.4 million babies, dies at 88
FILE-James Harrison gets ready for his last blood donation. Harrison made 1,173 blood donations and helped more than two million mothers in Australia deliver their babies safely. (Photo by Subel Bhandari/picture alliance via Getty Images)
A man credited with saving 2.4 million babies through his record-breaking blood plasma donations over 60 years, has died. He was 88.
Who was James Harrison?
James Harrison, who was born in New South Wales, is a retired state railway department clerk. His plasma contained a rare antibody, known as anti-D. He made 1,173 donations after he turned 18 in 1954 until he was forced to retire in 2018, aged 81, the Associated Press reported.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service told the AP that Harrison was renowned as the "Man with the Golden Arm." Harrison is survived by his sister, Margaret Thrift, his daughter, two grandsons and four great-grandchildren.
Antibody helps James Harrison’s family
Dig deeper:
According to the Associated Press, anti-D is used to make injections that protect unborn babies from hemolytic disease of the newborn, in which a pregnant woman’s immune system attacks her fetus’ red blood cells.
The disease is common when a woman has an Rh negative blood type and her baby’s is Rh positive. The AP noted that Australia has only 200 anti-D donors who help 45,000 mothers and their babies annually.
Jarrod Mellowship, James Harrison’s grandson, told the Associated Press that his mother, Tracey Mellowship, Harrison’s daughter, needed the treatment when he and his brother, Scott, were born.
Harrison recognized by Guiness World Records
Local perspective:
In 2005, James Harrison was recognized by Guiness World Records as the person who had donated the most blood plasma in the world. The Associated Press noted that the record was beaten in 2022 by American Brett Cooper from Walker, Michigan.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by the Associated Press, which offered background on James Harrison and received comments from Harrison’s grandson. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.