Man’s Blood Saves Two Million Babies

Galatians 6:9 We must not become tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time if we do not give up.

An Australian man is being called “the Man with the Golden Arm” for saving two million newborns because of donating his plasma.

James Harrison has a rare blood type that contains life-saving antibodies.  Doctors believe that Harrison somehow developed the antibody during an operation at age 14 where he had a lung removed.

Now, Harrison’s blood is used to create the vaccine Anti-D.  The vaccine is used to treat pregnant women with a blood disease that can lead to complications.  Harrison has donated every week for the last 60 years, over 1,000 times.

“In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year. Doctors didn’t know why, and it was awful,” Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, told CNN. “Women were having numerous miscarriages, and babies were being born with brain damage.”

The condition is called Rhesus disease and happens when a woman has rhesus-negative blood and her baby has rhesus-positive blood.  The mother can produce antibodies that begin to attack the baby.  The Anti-D vaccine prevents the antibodies that attack the baby from developing.

“It makes you feel good yourself that you’ve saved a life there, and you’ve saved many more— and that’s great,” Harrison, who added he does not see himself as a hero, told CNN.

The Australian Red Cross says that 17 percent of Australian women are risk for the disease and they hope another donor can be found before Harrison reaches 81, the age limit for blood donation in the country.

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