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