Australia’s James Harrison, saviour and blood donor to 2.4 million babies, dies at 88

He was known as the man with the golden arm as his blood contained a rare antibody called “anti-D”

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood

James Harrison, an Australian blood donor whose plasma saved the lives of 2.4 million babies, has died at the age of 88.

He died in his sleep at a nursing home in New South Wales on Feb 17, according to his family.

Harrison was known as the man with the golden arm in Australia as his blood contained a rare antibody - anti-D, the BBC reported.

Anti-D is used to make medication given to pregnant mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies.

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service, who paid tribute to Harrison, said Harrison had pledged to become a donor after receiving transfusions while undergoing a major chest surgery when he was 14.

He started donating his blood plasma when he was 18 and continued doing so every two weeks until he was 81, the BBC reported

In 2005, he broke the world record for most blood plasma donated and held the title until 2022 when he was overtaken by a donor in the US.

BBC quoted Harrison's daughter, Tracey Mellowship, as saying that her father was "very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain".

"He always said it does not hurt, and the life you save could be your own," she said.

Mellowship and two of Harrison's grandchildren are also recipients of anti-D immunisations.

Anti-D jabs protect unborn babies from a deadly blood disorder called haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn, or HDFN.

The condition occurs at pregnancy when the mother's red blood cells are incompatible with that of their growing baby.

The mother's immune system then sees the baby's blood cells as a threat and produces antibodies to attack them. This can seriously harm the baby, causing severe anaemia, heart failure, or even death.

Before anti-D interventions were developed in the mid-1960s, one in two babies diagnosed with HDFN died, BBC reported

It is unclear how Harrison's blood came to be so rich in anti-D, but some reports said it had to do with the massive blood transfusion he received at 14.

There are fewer than 200 anti-D donors in Australia, but they help an estimated 45,000 mothers and their babies every year, according to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, also known as Lifeblood.