One of the world’s most prolific blood donors – whose plasma saved the lives of more than 2 million babies – died.
James Harrison died in a dream at a nursing home in Novi South Wales, Australia on February 17th, his family said on Monday. He was 88 years old.
Known in Australia as a man with a golden hand, Harrison’s blood contained rarely antibodies, anti-D, used to create medicines given to pregnant mothers whose blood threatened to attack their unborn babies.
The Red Cross Australian Service, who paid tribute to Harrison, said that he had committed to becoming a donor after receiving transfusion while undergoing a major chest surgery when he was 14 years old.
He started donating his blood plasma when he was 18 and continued to work every two weeks until he was 81 years old.
In 2005, he donated a world record for most of the blood plasma – the title he held until 2022, when a man in the United States overcame him.
Harrison’s daughter, Tracey Mellowship, said her father was “very proud to have saved so much life, without any cost or pain.”
“He always said it didn’t hurt, and the life you save could be yours,” she said.
Mellowship and two Harrison grandchildren are also recipients of anti-D immunization.
“Made [James] Happy when I heard about many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness, “she said.
Anti-D jabs protect the unborn baby from a deadly blood disorder called the hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborns, or HDFN.
The condition occurs in pregnancy when maternal red blood cells are incompatible with their growing child.
The mother’s immune system then sees the baby’s blood cell as a threat and creates antibodies to attack them. This can seriously harm the child, causing strong anemia, heart failure or even death.
Before the anti-D interventions were developed in the mid-1960s, one of the two babies diagnosed with HDFN died.
It is unclear that Harrison’s blood has become so rich in anti-D, but some reports say it has to do with the massive blood transfusion he received at 14.
There are less than 200 donors in Australia against DDA, but they help in the estimated 45,000 mothers and their babies every year, according to the Australian Red Cross Service, also known as Lifeblood.
Lifeblood cooperates with the Australian Institute for Medical Research Walter and Eliza Hall to grow anti-D antibodies in the laboratory by replicating blood and immune cells from Harrison and other donors.
Researchers have included hope laboratory anti-D can one day be used to help pregnant women around the world.
“Creating a new therapy has long been a” holy grail “,” said Lifeblood research director David Irving.
He noted that the scarcity of the donor dedicated to the regular donation, which are able to produce antibodies in sufficient quality and quantity.
