Australian 'Man With Golden Arm', Who Helped Save 2.4 Million Babies, Dies At 88

An Australian known as the "Man with the Golden Arm" for protecting 2.4 million babies with his rare, antibody-rich blood plasma, has died at 88, health officials say.

James Harrison rolled up his sleeve and donated blood 1,173 times over 64 years, Australian Red Cross organisation Lifeblood said in a statement.

His plasma contained a rare antibody, known as Anti-D, used to make a medication for mothers whose blood was at risk of attacking their unborn babies -- known as rhesus D haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN).

While it is impossible to know how many babies would have died without Anti-D protection, HDFN affected as many as 1 in 100 women until 1966, government data shows.

Following the success of a 1966 Anti-D trial in Australia, Lifeblood looked for people who had the antibody to scale up the project.

Harrison fit the bill.

He had started donating a few years earlier and never missed a single appointment until his retirement in 2018, Lifeblood said.

His blood was used to make 2.4 million doses.

Of Harrison's 1,173 donations, 1,163 were from his right arm and 10 from his left, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

"It didn't hurt in the right arm," he told the publication, although he never watched the needle go in.

Harrison died in his sleep at a nursing home on the New South Wales Central Coast on February 17.

'Incredible legacy'

Among his blood recipients was daughter Tracey Mellowship, who said Harrison would be greatly missed.

"James was a humanitarian at heart, but also very funny," she said.

"As an Anti-D recipient myself, he has left behind a family that may not have existed without his precious donations.

"He was also very proud to have saved so many lives, without any cost or pain. It made him happy to hear about the many families like ours, who existed because of his kindness."

Lifeblood chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said Harrison left behind "an incredible legacy".

"It was his hope that one day, someone in Australia would beat his donation record."

About 17 percent of pregnant women require Anti-D, but finding donors for the program remains difficult, the government said.

Scientists hope to use blood from Harrison and other donors to recreate Anti-D antibodies in the lab, helping to prevent HDFN worldwide.

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