81-year-old blood donor has saved more than 2.4 million lives

Blood donations.
(Image credit: iStockphoto)

In Australia, James Harrison is known as "the man with the golden arm." Every few weeks for the past six decades, he has overcome his strong dislike of needles and given blood — saving the lives of more than 2.4 million Australian babies in the process. Harrison's exceptionally rare blood type contains antibodies that are used to make Anti-D, a medicine given to mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies. Last week, the 81-year-old gave his last donation, having reached the maximum age allowed for donors in Australia. "It was sad," Harrison said, "because I felt like I could keep going."

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Christina Colizza

Christina Colizza is chief researcher and writer at The Week magazine.