📰 🔥The Golden Arm Who Saved 2.4 Million Babies👶🏼: Tribute to James Harrison 🦸♂️
🌍 One of The World's Most Prolific Blood Donors Leaves Behind a Legacy 💔
James Harrison, one of the world's most prolific blood donors, whose plasma saved the lives of more than two million babies has passed away in his peaceful sleep. He was known in Australia as the man with the golden arm due to his unique blood.
💉 The Magic Blood of James Harrison
❓What made James Harrison's blood special?
Anti-D, a rare antibody contained in Harrison's blood, is utilised for producing medication that safeguards pregnant women whose blood might pose a threat to their unborn babies. This antibody was highly prized, and crucial to many.
🎗️ Becoming a Blood Donor: The Back Story
Inspired by the transfusions he received during a major chest surgery when he was 14, Harrison pledged to become a donor as soon as he hit 18. He faithfully continued donating his blood plasma every two weeks until he was 81. He had the world record under his belt for most blood plasma donated till 2022.
👨👧👧 In the Words of His Daughter, Tracey Mellowship
'He was so proud to have saved countless lives at no cost or pain, and always asserted it could be anyone's life at stake, you never know', Mellowship, Harrison's daughter, shared with us. Along with Tracey Mellowship, two of Harrison's grandchildren have also benefited from anti-D immunisations.
A Rarely Found Gem 💎 in the Medical Research
Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in collaboration with Lifeblood has embarked on replicating blood and immune cells to grow anti-D antibodies in the lab from Harrison and other donors' blood. They envisage that lab-made anti-D could one day assist pregnant women across the globe. But, as Lifeblood's research director emphasises, donor scarcity and the need for regular donation presents a challenge.
Affecting the Lives of 45,000 Mothers, Annually 🤰
Harrison belonged to the group of fewer than 200 anti-D donors in Australia, who assist an estimated 45,000 moms and their babies every year. The impact he had, not just on the recipients of his anti-D rich blood but also on our understanding of its potential, cannot be overstated.
As we remember James Harrison, we can't help but pose an essential question - what steps are we taking at an individual level to save lives? Do our contributions, big or small, resonate with the legacy of the man with the golden arm?