The most famous blood donor in the world donated blood for the last time

In 1951, 14-year-old James Harrison from Australia woke up after extensive chest surgery. Doctors removed one of the lungs and left it in the hospital for three months. During this difficult period, Harrison found out that he lives mainly due to the huge amount of transfused blood. It was then that he vowed that he himself would become a donor. Old Australian law required a blood donor to be at least 18 years old, so the boy had to wait another 4 years. But the Australian kept his promise. The Australian Red Cross estimates that Harrison saved millions of lives.

Shortly after the guy became a donor, doctors told him that his blood could greatly affect mortality. "In Australia, until 1967, literally thousands of babies died every year, doctors did not know why, and it was terrible- says Red Cross employee Gemma Falkenmere. - Women had numerous miscarriages, and babies were born with brain damage. ". Today it is already known that the cause of those terrible events was the Rhesus conflict - a condition in which the pregnant woman’s blood attacks the blood cells of her unborn baby.

Rhesus conflict occurs when a pregnant woman has a negative Rh factor, and a baby in the womb is positive, inherited from her father. If the mother had an increased sensitivity to a Rh-positive baby (which often happens during the first pregnancy with a Rh-positive baby), her body begins to produce antibodies that destroy the "alien" blood cells of the baby. Doctors have discovered that Harrison has rare antibodies in his blood that helped them develop injections called Anti-D in the 60s. These injections protect mothers with a negative Rh factor from the production of cells hostile to the baby in the body.

Doctors don't know where Harrison got such a rare type of blood from. They suggest that this may be due to transfusions that he received when he was 14. The donor service says that in Australia there are no more than 50 people who have the same antibodies in their blood. “Every blood bag is precious, but James’s blood is special. Every Anti-D batch ever made in Australia was made thanks to James’s blood.”says Falkenmere. - And over 17% of Australian women are at risk, so James has helped save many lives. ". About 2.4 million to be exact.

Known as the "man with golden hands," James Harrison became a blood plasma donor 1173 times. "This is what I can do, this is one of my talents. Perhaps my only talent is to be a blood donor."- says the Australian.

"They asked me to be a guinea pig, and since then I have been sacrificing. I will continue to do this if I am allowed to.". The fact is that Mr. Harrison has exceeded the age limit of the donor, and the donor service seeks to protect his health. A few weeks ago, a man donated blood for the last time.