Melbourne, Australia -An Australian man was credited with saving 2.4 million infants through his record-breaking blood plasma donation in six decades, died on Tuesday, his family said. He was 88 years old.
James Harrison, a clerk of a retired State Railway Department, died on 17 February at a nursing home on the middle coast of New South Wales State.
Australian red cross life through AP
The plasma of Harrison had a rare antibody known as anti-D. It is used to perform injections that protect children unborn from hemolitic disease of newborns, in which the immune system of a pregnant woman attacks her fetal red blood cells. This disease is the most common when a woman has an Rh-negative blood type and her child is Rh-positive.
Australia has only 200 anti-D donor. They help 45,000 mothers and their children annually.
Despite a protest for needles, Harrison donated 1,173 at the age of 18 in 1954 at the age of 18, until he was forced to retire at the age of 81 in 2018.
“He did it for the right reasons. As he was humble, he liked meditation. But he would never do so to pay attention,” Madhurata said, his grandfather was surprised to be recognized by the Guinness World Records in 2005, who donated the most blood plasma in the world as the person.
The record was beaten in 2022 by Walker, Michigan by American Brett Cooper.
Australian blood service pays tribute to James Harrison
Australian Red Cross Blood Service stated that Herrison was famous as “man with Golden Arm”. The national agency, which is responsible for collecting and distributing blood products, is also known as a lifeblog.
Its Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Cornellison, said Herrison hoped that someone in Australia would one day defeat his donation record.
Cornellison said in a statement, “James was a notable, rigid and generous person who was committed to lifetime, and he captured the hearts of many people around the world.”
“It was James’s belief that his donation was not more important than any other donors” and everyone could be special as he was, “Cornellison said.
Lifebalted said, “It is very gratitude that we accept James Harrison’s generous life. … We thank James for the incredible contribution made by him and to save millions of lives.”
Mellowship stated that his mother, Tracy Molochep, Harrison’s daughter needed the treatment when she and her brother, Scott were born.
Jarod Molochap said that his wife Rebecca also needed treatment when three of her four children were born.
James Harrison’s blood may have achieved its unique feature
There is speculation that Harrison developed high-D concentrations of anti-D, when she was 14 years old, as a result of her own blood transfusion during major lung surgery.
“After surgery, his father, Reg, said Grandd you are really alive because people have donated blood,” Jarod Molochep said. “The day he turned 18, he started donating.”
Anti-D application in fighting hemolitic disease of the newborn was not discovered until the 1960s.
Harrison, who was born in New South Wales, has survived from his sister, Margaret Thrift, his daughter, two grandchildren and four sarcasters.
