Australia’s ‘man with golden arm’ who saved 2.4M babies dies

By Berk Kutay Gokmen

ISTANBUL (AA) – One of the world's most generous blood donors, who saved 2.4 million babies, has died at the age of 88, Australia's 7NEWS reported on Monday.

James Harrison, the Australian blood donor who donated his plasma more than 1,100 times over his lifetime, died at a nursing home in Australia’s New South Wales on Feb. 17, his family announced on Monday.

Harrison began to donate his plasma in 1954 when he was just 18 years old, and he continued regularly for more than six decades until he reached the age of 81.

Over the years, he gave blood roughly every two weeks, completing a total of 1,162 donations, which earned him the nickname "the man with the golden arm."

His blood contained a rare antibody, known as Anti-D, which is used to create a medication for pregnant women whose blood might otherwise attack their unborn babies.

Harrison had decided to donate his blood regularly after receiving multiple blood transfusions at the age of 14 during his lung surgery.