Faith in humanity restored ! Man's blood saves over 2,000,000 people.

After needing 13 liters of blood for a surgery at the age of 13, a man named James Harrison ledged to donate blood once he turned 18. It was discovered that his blood contained a rare antigen which cured Rhesus disease. He has donated blood a record 1,000 times and saved over 2,000,000 lives !

James Harrison was born in 1936. At the age of 13, he underwent major chest surgery, requiring 13 litres of blood. After surgery, he was in the hospital for three months. Realizing the blood had saved his life, he made a pledge to start donating blood as soon as he turned eighteen, the then-required age.
Harrison started donating in 1954 and after the first few donations it was discovered that his blood contained an unusually strong and persistent antibody called Rho(D) Immune Globulin. Rho(D) IG is given to Rh(D) negative mothers of unknown or Rh(D) positive babies during and after pregnancy to prevent the creation of antibodies to the blood of a Rh(D) positive child. This antigen sensitization and subsequent incompatibility phenomenon causes Rhesus disease, the most common form of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).
Through the donations of his plasma, Harrison helped prevent thousands of born and unborn children from dying of HDN. This uniqueness was considered so important, that his life was insured for one million dollars after this discovery and the following research based on his donations created the commercial Anti-D immune globulin commonly known as RhoGAM. His blood plasma derivatives have since been given as treatment to one in ten pregnant women whose blood could potentially become incompatible with that of their children.



Rheus disease

Rh disease (also known as Rhesus isoimmunisation, Rh (D) disease, Rhesus incompatibility, Rhesus disease, RhD Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn, Rhesus D Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn or RhD HDN) is one of the causes of hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). The disease ranges from mild to severe, and typically occurs only in some second or subsequent pregnancies of Rh negative women where the fetus's father is Rh positive, leading to a Rh+ pregnancy. During birth, the mother may be exposed to the infant's blood, and this causes the development of antibodies, which may affect the health of subsequent Rh+ pregnancies. In mild cases, the fetus may have mild anaemia with reticulocytosis. In moderate or severe cases the fetus may have a more marked anaemia and erythroblastosis (erythroblastosis fetalis). When the disease is very severe it may cause haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), hydrops fetalis or stillbirth.
Rh disease is generally preventable by treating the mother during pregnancy or soon after delivery with an intramuscular injection of anti-RhD immunoglobulin (Rho(D) immune globulin). The RhD protein is coded for by the RHD gene. James Harrison, OAM, also known as the Man with the golden arm, is a blood plasma donor from Australia whose unusual plasma composition has been used to make a treatment for Rhesus disease. He has made over 1000 donations throughout his lifetime, and these donations are estimated to have saved over two million unborn babies from the condition.

source : wikipedia