Final donation for man whose blood helped save 2.4 million babies
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https://www.theage.com.au/healthcare/final-donation-for-man-whose-blood-helped-save-2-4-million-babies-20180511-p4zerp.html
For every regular blood donation, three lives could be saved; an ordinary plasma donation could save 18.
But James Harrison is extraordinary. His blood has helped save the lives of 2.4 million babies.
The 81-year-old's plasma contains a potent antibody used to create a remarkable treatment known as Anti-D that protects unborn babies from the potentially deadly Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease (HDN).
On Friday, after more than 60 years and 1173 donations, Mr Harrison made his final benefaction.
“It’s a sad day for me. The end of a long run,” Mr Harrison says as his blood flows from the crook of his right arm to the plasmapheresis machine at the Town Hall Donor Centre.
HDN killed thousands of Australian babies every year before scientists made their breakthrough Anti-D discovery in the 1960s.
Jemma Falkenmire at the Australian Red Cross Blood Donor Service said “very few people have the these antibodies in such strong concentrations.
Scientists suspect this has something to do with the 13 units of blood transfusions he received after undergoing major chest surgery when he was 14 years old.
Attempts to create a synthetic version has so far failed. The Blood Service recently started a three year research project to harvest Mr Harrison’s DNA and create a library of his monoclonals – the cocktail of antibodies and white blood cells that herald a promising new phase in the Anti-D program.
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/107290/7ab8a461-2bb2-40fd-8d95-7f12f516c490/image.png
I recommend you read the source, it's a great story and goes deeper into science.
Really awesome guy, I hope they're successful in making a synthetic version
Man this reads like a superhero's backstory. It's poetic if true, his being saved enabled him to solve millions more.
wow hide the pain harold really is a legend
Hide the Pain and Donate Blood.
I can live with that slogan.
Now, that is a real hero.
the story is really sad if you read it, he ended up running out of blood :/
Huh? I thought it just just that it's too much of a risk to take blood from someone too old.
Imagine being the man who saved 2.4 million babies and made 4.8 million happy parents, and even more siblings and family members. Incredibly selfless man, truly a saint.
this man is certainly inspiring. as soon as my medical condition is sorted im going to start donating blood again
Well, one thing is for sure, he was not afraid of needles
The article says there are 160 donors in this program, and It doesn't do a very good job of saying why this person is as special as the headline implies.
He’s done it for an extremely long time, also probably because his blood has an abnormally high concentration of the antibody
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