James Harrison, 88, recently passed away in a nursing home in Australia. He is estimated to have saved two million babies. All by donating his plasma every two weeks from the time he was 18 – all the way up to 81!
Harrison is among a rare set of individuals whose blood contains an antibody called Anti-D. This antibody is important to save babies whose blood type is incompatible with the mother. As a result, the maternal immune system targets the blood of the foetus. This condition is known as Hemolytic Disease of the Foetus and Newborn or HDFN.
The BBC reports that before Anti-D’s development in the 1960s, one in two babies diagnosed with HDFN died.
It’s unclear how Harrison’s body started developing Anti-D, but some believe that it has something to do with the massive blood transfusion he received while undergoing a major chest surgery at age 14.
Anti-D is administered to patients via injections that are produced using the plasma of donors like Harrison. However, research is ongoing to grow these anti-bodies in labs.
(Source: BBC)
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