James Harrison is considered a hero in his native Australia, and it’s pretty hard to argue against that fact when you find out why!
At age 78, it’s estimated that Harrison has saved the lives of more than 2 million babies in Australia. Not a bad feat, if you ask me.
How has he managed to save so many babies? You could say that it’s just in his blood. Literally.
Decades ago it was discovered that he possessed a rare and abnormal antibody in his blood that doctors then used to create a new injection called Anti-D.
Women who have rhesus-negative blood that carry babies who are rhesus-positive can begin to develop antibodies that want to destroy the baby’s blood cells, as they can seem foreign. This can often cause death or brain damage. The Anti-D injection basically “prevents women with rhesus-negative blood from developing RhD antibodies during pregnancy,” thus saving the baby’s life.
When you take into consideration that almost 20% of Australian women are at risk of this happening, and that James Harrison is so far the only known producer of this rare antibody in Australia, it’s no wonder he’s received several awards for his blood-donating services.
Keep on being an inspiration of the good one person can do!
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