“Meet the Unsung Hero: How One Man’s Extraordinary Gift of Blood Became a Lifeline for 2.4 Million Babies”
How James Harrison’s Heroic Blood Donations Saved Millions Of Babies’ Lives
Australian Red CrossJames Harrison donating blood in the 1960s.
James Harrison was born on December 27, 1936 in New South Wales. By all accounts, Harrison lived a largely average life. He was married to a woman named Barbara Lindbeck and together they had a daughter and several grandchildren. Meanwhile, he worked as a clerk for the regional railway authority.
After undergoing lung surgery that required him to get a series of blood transfusions at just 14 years old, Harrison promised himself that he would donate blood plasma as soon as he was of age. He kept true to that promise, making his first donation at age 18 in 1954.
Harrison indeed followed through and donated blood every two weeks — never missing an appointment, especially after learning that his plasma was rich in anti-D and could help expecting mothers diagnosed with HDFN.
Prior to the 1960s, conditions like HDFN were rare, but tragically difficult to treat. According to the Cleveland Clinic, HDFN occurs today in 276 out of 100,000 live births.
The condition is marked by a mother’s immune system attacking her fetus due to blood type incompatibility. The mother’s immune system perceives the baby’s blood cells as a threat and produces antibodies to attack them — more often than not, HDFN seriously harms the baby and is often fatal without intervention.
Hearing that his plasma offered a way to treat expecting mothers with this condition inspired James Harrison to make blood donations a priority throughout his life. According to his family, Harrison did not miss donations even when traveling, choosing to donate at clinics across Australia while exploring the country in a camper van with his wife. After he became too old to drive, Harrison began traveling by train to get to donation centers.
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