... Harrison’s remarkable gift of giving started when he had
major chest surgery when he was just 14, the Australian Red Cross Blood
Service said.
Blood donations saved his life, so he pledged to become a blood donor.
A few years later, doctors discovered his blood contained
the antibody which could be used to create Anti-D injections, so he
switched over to making blood plasma donations to help as many people as
possible.
Doctors aren’t exactly sure why Harrison has this rare blood
type, but they think it might be from the transfusions he received when
he was 14, after his surgery. He’s one of no more than 50 people in
Australia known to have the antibodies, the blood service says.
“Every bag of blood is precious, but James’ blood is
particularly extraordinary. His blood is actually used to make a
life-saving medication, given to moms whose blood is at risk of
attacking their unborn babies. Every batch of Anti-D that has ever been
made in Australia has come from James’ blood.” Falkenmire said. “And
more than 17% of women in Australia are at risk, so James has helped
save a lot of lives.”
... “It becomes quite humbling when they say, ‘oh you’ve done
this or you’ve done that or you’re a hero,’” Harrison said. “It’s
something I can do. It’s one of my talents, probably my only talent, is
that I can be a blood donor.”
...
