When he was 14 years old, Australian man James Harrison faced a near-death experience, and the blood of strangers helped save his life. He promised to himself that he will give back after being given a second shot at life.
He has been true to his word. At present, he has already extended the lives of over 2 million babies.
Known as "The Man with the Golden Arm," the 78-year-old Harrison has literally provided the lifeblood to these infants by donating blood plasma from his right arm almost every week for the past 60 years.
This heroic act can be traced back to the year 1951 when Harrison, then 14 years old, suffered a chest injury and had to undergo an operation to remove his lung, which caused him to lose a lot of blood.
"When I came out of the operation, or a couple days after, my father was explaining what had happened. He said I had (received) 13 units (liters) of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people," Harrison recounted.
"He was a donor himself, so I said when I'm old enough, I'll become a blood donor," he added.
Little did he know that in his veins flow the answer to a deadly problem among infants called the rhesus disease. This disease causes a pregnant mother's blood to attack her unborn baby's blood cells.
Doctors found out that Harrison's blood carries an unusual antibody, which can fight rhesus disease. After having been informed of this, the Australian man helped physicians develop Anti-D, an injection that addressed rhesus disease.
Jemma Falkenmire of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, called Harrison an "irreplaceable" blood donor.
"Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary," Falkenmire explained.
"Every bag of blood is precious, but James' blood is particularly extraordinary. His blood is actually used to make a life-saving medication, given to moms whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies," she added.
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service credits Harrison's blood and the Anti-D vaccine with saving the lives of more than 2 million babies so far.
