This old man with white hair is James Harrison, the protagonist of our story today, known as the "Man with the Golden Arm."
In 1951, 14-year-old James Harrison underwent a major surgery in Australia in which he had a lung removed and doctors hospitalized him for three months. During this difficult time, Harrison learned that he survived because of a large amount of blood transfusion. He vowed to be a donor in the future. At the time, the law stipulated that the blood donor had to be at least 18 years old, so he had to wait another 4 years, and Harrison kept his promise. According to statistics, Harrison has donated blood to the Australian Red Cross regularly for 60 years, saving millions of lives.
Shortly after Harrison became a donor, doctors told him that his blood could solve a fatal problem. Jemma Falkenmire of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said: "In Australia, until 1967, thousands of babies died every year and doctors don't know why, it's horrible. A large number of women have miscarriages, and babies are born with brain damage. We now know that the cause of these terrible things is rhesus disease, where the blood of a pregnant woman begins to attack the blood cells of her own unborn baby. ”
Rhesus disease occurs when a pregnant woman has RhD-negative blood (RhD-negative) and the fetus in the womb has RhD-positive blood (RhD-positive), which is inherited from the father. If the mother has been sensitive to rhesus-positive blood, usually during a previous pregnancy, she has a rhesusus-positive baby, she may produce some antibodies to destroy the baby's "foreign body" blood cells. Doctors discovered a rare antibody in Harrison's blood, and in the 1960s they collaborated extensively to use it to develop an injection called anti-D. During pregnancy, antivitamin D prevents mothers with RH-negative blood from producing RhD antibodies.
Doctors don't know anything about why Harrison has this rare blood type. They speculate that this may be related to a blood transfusion during his surgery when he was 14. The Blood Service also said that in Australia, no more than 50 people are known to have antibodies. "Every bag of blood is precious, but Harrison's blood is special." Every batch of antivitamin D made in Australia comes from Harrison's blood. Falkenmire said. In Australia, more than 17 per cent of women are at risk, so Harrison helped save many lives. To be precise, it is about 2.4 million people.
James Harrison, known as the "Golden Arm Man," received 1173 units of plasma from his right arm and 10 from his left. "It's what I can do, maybe the only talent I have, and I'm honored to be a blood donor who can help others," Harrison said.
In 1999, Harrison was awarded the Order of Australia. Now Harrison has exceeded the age limit for donors, and recently completed his final donation.