The Washington Post: For six decades, ‘the man with the golden arm’ donated blood — and saved 2.4 million babies.

““He said that I had 13 units of blood and my life had been saved by unknown people,“ Harrison told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta decades later.

At the time, Australia’s laws required blood donors to be at least 18 years old. It would be four years before Harrison was eligible, but he vowed then that he too would become a blood donor when he was old enough.

After turning 18, Harrison made good on his word, donating whole blood regularly with the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.
[…]
Harrison continued donating for more than 60 years, and his plasma has been used to make millions of Anti-D injections, according to the Red Cross. Because about 17 percent of pregnant women in Australia require the Anti-D injections, the blood service estimates Harrison has helped 2.4 million babies in the country.

“Every ampul of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it,“ Barlow told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it.“ “

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