The man whose blood saved millions of preborn babies has died at 88

James Harrison, the Australian known as “The Man With the Golden Arm” because of a rare antibody in his blood which has saved the lives of millions, has passed away. He was 88 years old.

Harrison initially began donating blood in 1954 at age 18, after he underwent a lifesaving surgery which required multiple blood transfusions. Knowing his life was saved thanks to the generosity of strangers, Harrison wanted to pay it forward once he turned 18. Despite having a fear of needles, he began donating blood and plasma on a regular basis; he currently holds the world record for the most blood donated by an individual.

But it wasn’t just the blood he donated that has saved so many; after the blood transfusions he received, his body began producing an antibody, which was discovered 10 years after he began donating. It was anti-D, an immunoglobulin given to mothers at risk of developing rhesus D hemolytic disease (HDN), in which antibodies are formed that attack their preborn babies. Thanks to anti-D, these mothers are able to successfully carry babies through an entire pregnancy.

Without it, babies can develop hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN), a potentially fatal blood disorder.

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At 81, Harrison finally “retired,” after having made 1,173 donations. “Every ampule of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it,” Robyn Barlow, the Rh program coordinator who recruited Harrison, told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time. “It’s an enormous thing … He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it.”

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He is also unusual in other ways. “Very few people have these antibodies in such strong concentrations,” Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Donor Service, said. “His body produces a lot of them and when he donates his body produces more.” Even his own daughter, Tracey Mellowship, received anti-D from her father, pointing out that her own family would not have existed had it not been for his donations.

When he retired, Harrison said he would have continued donating if he had been allowed. “I hope it’s a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause,” he said.

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“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,” Mellowship told NBC News. “He always said it does not hurt, and the life you save could be your own.”

In Australia, there are currently approximately 200 anti-D donors donating to an estimated 45,000 mothers and their babies each year, though researchers are hoping to create a lab-grown version of the anti-D antibody using Harrison’s blood — another part of what Lifeblood Chief Executive Officer Stephen Cornelissen said was his legacy. “On behalf of Lifeblood, and the entire Australian community,” he said, “we thank James for the incredible life-saving contribution he made and the millions of lives he saved.”