James Harrison. The man whose blood helped millions of babies

Few people may have boasted in such a peaceful heroism. The proverb says that, to great harm, it takes great medicines, but in the case of James Harrison, it was enough to have been born with very rare quality blood, being willing to accept the slight annoyance of extending his arm regularly so that it was extracted. In all you did it 1173 times. She didn't like needles at all, but she just looked at the other side. Became one of the greatest donors in history, but why it gained the nickname «The man of the gold arm» It is the fact that scientists have discovered an unusual concentration of a rare antibody in their essential plasma to develop medication that helped protect about 2.4 million babies in Australia.

The rare antibody

And he welcomed this kind of destination in the best, because as his grandson Jarrod Mellushhip said in an interview after his death, «It's not that if I felt thanks, I simply did it with all the taste». It became a routine, and it was enough to be immunized against that form of rebate that takes over most of us at times when we are not safe about the purpose of our existence. In the case of Harrison, who died on February 17 at a nursing home, one hour's travel hour in Sidney, where until 2018 he made every two weeks the regular donation, that was enough to feel that he was doing his part. And lived until 88 years. Deep down, staying in good health was, for many years, its true mission.

Its plasma contained an antibody known as anti-D, which was essential to the production of a medicine for women whose immune system reacts poorly to pregnancy, attacking the red blood cells of fetuses, according to Australian Red Cross Lifeblood. This antibody helps to circumvent this aggression that can occur when mothers and babies have different blood types, being more common when fetuses have “positive” HR blood and “negative” HR mothers. In these cases, the mothers' immune system can react to the fetus as if it were a foreign body, which in turn can put babies under the risk of developing hemolytic disease, which can cause anemia and jaundice and be potentially fatal.

'James in a jar'

Although it is an unusual scenario, and only about 276 in every 100,000 undead have complications related to this type of blood incompatibility, doctors cannot predict whether this incompatibility will cause serious problems. Therefore, in Australia, the practice is to offer the medicine to all pregnant women with negative antibodies as a preventive measure. Now, in that country this number is around 17% of the population, that is, about 45,000 women per year. James Harrison's death is not just a disaster because he was part of a lot of 200 donors whose blood protects that population of 27 million. But, however, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research scientists in Melbourne are working to create a synthetic version of the medicine, from what some have called “James in a Jar”, an antibody similar to what was extracted from Harrison's blood, and which may soon be produced in the laboratory.

It is not likely that the story of his life will be adapted to a Marvel-designed band, Harrison even met some of the women her blood helped. And if most were faces in the crowd, there were two that he knew quite well. The daughter, Tracey Mellowship, received the injection, and later the same happened with the woman who married Tracey's son, Rebecca Mellowship. But if this story is a kind of fantasy for lovers of inertia, it must be highlighted how he has made a donation every two weeks, and did it between 18 and 81 years old. Not even the holidays were an excuse to miss, stopping in clinics across the country, when he and his wife, Barbara, left Sidney in his campsite. Also she came to become a prolific Doradora. And even when he got old to drive, he caught the train and made the one -hour trip to each direction to the donation center. Despite the horror of the needles, he took pleasure from the conversation, being a kind of celebrity from the moment he crossed those doors.

Six decades as a donor

Born on December 27, 1936, in Junee, a small village of Nova Wales of the South, son of Peggy and Reginald Harrison, when he was 14, Harrison became very bad during a major lung surgery, having needed various blood transfusions, and this was sensitized to the importance of donating blood, so he was not careful to do it and encourage all those who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage them who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage all those who encourage all those who encourage them who encourage all those that They did for the first time. He was not in the habit of telling his story, merely making others feel special for making that decision. In his case, everything seemed to be connected, and shortly after recovering from surgery, he met the future woman. He was a teacher and died in 2005, he kept his routine. He had been a clerk in the regional railway authority. The last donation he could make was in 2018, and about two decades earlier he had received the Australian Order Medal for his commitment as a donor. His blood will have helped a lot of people, but he understood that the most important thing was not the numbers, but this commitment of those who take some time to their routine to make sure there is no lack of blood to those who need it. This was his main argument when convincing the others. As his grandson said, Jarrod Mellowship, his desire was that others were as or more prolific than him, «Because it would mean that the world is walking in the right direction».

Stephen Cornelissen, the executive director of Lifeblood, who is part of the Australian Red Cross, said Harrison expected someone to hit his donations record. « James was a remarkable, stoically kind and generous person who endeavored his whole life in being daddy and who has conquered the hearts of many people around the world. »said Cornelissen in a statement.