James Harrison aged 74 years is not less than a superhero. He is not a spider-man weaving a net or flying around but saved lives of 2 million by donating blood.
An Australian by birth, his plasma in blood is of extremely rare type having anti bodies and has the capability of curing a kind of Rhesus in anemic children. He commenced donating blood since the age of 18 every few weeks. At 56 he has donated blood 956 times. He has donated blood in sunshine coast, southern Australia, western Australia, Tasmania and many other countries.
He told that at the age of 14 he was given 13 liters of blood for the chest surgery that saved his life. He made up his mind that he would donate as much as possible of his blood for saving others lives. After donating blood he learnt that his blood was of a special kind. The lives of kids having Rhesus disease were saved. He came to be known as the man with a golden arm. He volunteered to donate blood to develop Anti D Vaccine. This blood is given to pregnant women having with Rh negative in blood group. The Rh disease is fatal for the embryo and children. This happens when one is Rh Positive and the other is Rh negative. In such a situation James’ plasma rectifies the disease. Millions of pregnant women have been given his blood. Even his own daughter Tracy was given this Anti D Vaccine.
He has enabled countless mothers to give birth to healthy babies. When he started donating, his blood was deemed so special his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.
He was also nicknamed the ‘man with the golden arm’ or the ‘man in two million’.
‘I was in hospital for three months,’ he said. ‘The blood I received saved my life so I made a pledge to give blood when I was 18.’
At the time, thousands of babies in Australia were dying each year of Rhesus disease. Other newborns suffered permanent brain damage because of the condition. The disease creates an incompatibility between the mother’s blood and her unborn baby’s blood. It stems from one having Rh-positive blood and the other Rh-negative.
After his blood type was discovered, Mr Harrison volunteered to undergo a series of tests to help develop the Anti-D vaccine.
‘They insured me for a million dollars so I knew my wife Barbara would be taken care of,’ he said.
‘I wasn’t scared. I was glad to help. I had to sign every form going and basically sign my life away.’
Here is something all to take notice of. We need to care for others should be the aim of life !!
