MELBOURNE, Australia — James Harrison, an Australian man known for saving the lives of 2.4 million babies through his remarkable blood plasma donations over six decades, passed away at the age of 88, his family announced on Tuesday.
Harrison, a former employee of the state railway department, died on February 17 in a nursing home located on the central coast of New South Wales, according to his grandson, Jarrod Mellowship.
Mellowship mentioned that Harrison was surprised when Guinness World Records recognized him in 2005 as the world’s most prolific blood plasma donor.
Despite his fear of needles, he donated blood 1,173 times, beginning at age 18 in 1954 and continuing until he was 81 in 2018, when he was required to stop.
“He was motivated by the right reasons. Although he was humble, he appreciated the recognition. However, he never sought attention,” Mellowship stated.
In 2022, Brett Cooper from Walker, Michigan, surpassed his record.
Australian Red Cross Blood Service pays tribute to donor
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service referred to Harrison as the “Man with the Golden Arm.”
According to a statement from Lifeblood, the national agency responsible for collecting and distributing blood products, Harrison is credited with saving the lives of 2.4 million babies through his plasma donations.
Harrison’s plasma contained anti-D, a rare antibody. This antibody is used to create injections that shield unborn children from hemolytic disease of the newborn, a condition in which a pregnant woman’s immune system targets the red blood cells of her fetus. This disease is most prevalent when a woman has Rh-negative blood and her baby has Rh-positive blood.
Australia has only 200 anti-D donors who assist 45,000 mothers and their infants each year.
Lifeblood CEO Stephen Cornelissen said Harrison had hoped that one day someone in Australia would break his donation record.
“James was an extraordinary, consistently kind, and generous individual who dedicated his life to giving, and he touched the hearts of numerous people worldwide,” Cornelissen stated.
Cornelissen added, “James believed that his donations were no more significant than those of any other donor and that everyone has the potential to be special in the same way he was.”
Antibody helps donor’s family
Mellowship mentioned that his mother, Tracey Mellowship, Harrison’s daughter, required the treatment when he and his brother Scott were born.
Jarrod Mellowship also stated that his wife, Rebecca Mellowship, needed the treatment when three of their four children were born.
It is believed that Harrison developed high concentrations of anti-D due to blood transfusions he received during major lung surgery at the age of 14.
“After the surgery, his father, Reg, told Grandad that he was alive only because people donated blood,” Jarrod Mellowship said. “He began donating on his 18th birthday.”
The use of anti-D in combating hemolytic disease of the newborn was not discovered until the 1960s.
Harrison was born in Junee, New South Wales. He is survived by his sister, Margaret Thrift, his daughter, two grandsons, and four great-grandchildren.
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