(CNN) Most people, when they retire, get a gold watch. James Harrison deserves so much more than that.

Harrison, known as the "Man With the Golden Arm," has donated blood nearly every week for 60 years. After all those donations, the 81-year-old Australian man "retired" Friday. The occasion marked the end of a monumental chapter.

According to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, he has helped saved the lives of more than 2.4 million Australian babies.

First, a note about antibodies

Harrison's blood has unique, disease-fighting antibodies that have been used to develop an injection called Anti-D, which helps fight against rhesus disease.

This disease is a condition where a pregnant woman's blood actually starts attacking her unborn baby's blood cells. In the worst cases, it can result in brain damage, or death, for the babies.

Here's why:

The condition develops when a pregnant woman has rhesus-negative blood (RhD negative) and the baby in her womb has rhesus-positive blood (RhD positive), inherited from its father.

If the mother has been sensitized to rhesus-positive blood, usually during a previous pregnancy with an rhesus-positive baby, she may produce antibodies that destroy the baby's "foreign" blood cells. That could be deadly for the baby.

How Harrison made a difference

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."

Why his donations were a game changer

Anti-D, produced with Harrison's antibodies, prevents women with rhesus-negative blood from developing RhD antibodies during pregnancy. More than three million does of Anti-D have been issued to Australian mothers with negative blood types since 1967.

Even Harrison's own daughter was given the Anti-D vaccine.

"That resulted in my second grandson being born healthy," Harrison said. "And that makes you feel good yourself that you saved a life there, and you saved many more and that's great.

The discovery of Harrison's antibodies was an absolute game changer, Australian officials said.

"In Australia, up until about 1967, there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn't know why, and it was awful. Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage," Jemma Falkenmire, of the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, told CNN in 2015 . "Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time."

Why he's a national hero

That would be more than two million lives, according to the blood service, and for that Harrison is considered a national hero in Australia. He's won numerous awards for his generosity, including the Medal of the Order of Australia, one of the country's most prestigious honors.

"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."

Now that Harrison has given his last blood donation (in Australia you can't donate blood past the age of 81), Falkenmire and others hope people with similar antibodies in their blood will step up and donate.

"All we can do is hope there will be people out there generous enough to do it, and selflessly in the way he's done," she said.</s>SYDNEY - An Australian man who has spent most of his life donating blood is retiring.

James Harrison has donated blood nearly every week for 60 years. He’s made 1,100 donations, saving the lives of more than 2.4 million Australian babies, according to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.

Known as the “man with the golden arm,” the 81-year-old’s blood is special. It has disease-fighting antibodies that have been used to develop the Anti-D injection, which helps combat Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease, or HDN.

The illness occurs when a pregnant woman’s blood begins attacking her unborn baby’s blood cells, causing brain damage or death for the baby.

It develops when the mom has rhesus-negative blood and the infant has rhesus-positive blood, inherited from the father. The different antigens cause the mother’s body to harm the baby.

Although doctors are unsure why Harrison’s blood contains the rare antibody that fights the disease, they believe it’s likely due to a major chest surgery he had that required a blood transfusion when he was 14.

Harrison became a blood donor after he recovered from the surgery. Once doctors discovered his blood was one-of-a-kind, he began offering blood plasma donations to help more people.

Now, it’s time for him to retire. Australia doesn’t allow citizens to donate blood past age 81.

“I hope it’s a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause,” Harrison said of his feat. He has received numerous awards for his generosity.

Harrison will continue to help health experts by donating his DNA samples for future research.

“Australia owes a big thank you to James Harrison, Australia became the first country in the world to be self-sufficient in the supply of Anti-D, and cases of HDN are rare,” Australian Red Cross Blood Service spokesperson Jemma Falkenmire said. “We encourage the partners and friends of all new mothers to think about donating blood, just one donation helps ensure someone has the chance to be a mother.”</s>An 81-year-old man who donated blood almost every week for 60 years saved the lives of more than 2.4 million babies, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service announced Friday.

James Harrison, 81, retired from donating blood Friday, ending a 60-year chapter as a blood donor in Australia where many called him “the Man with the Golden Arm,” KPTV reported.

The Australian Red Cross Blood Service announced that Harrison made 1,100 donations in total, which went toward saving the lives of more than 2.4 million infants in need of blood transfusions.

Harrison’s blood is just as extraordinary as his blood donation history. His blood has special disease-fighting antibodies which medical professionals have used to develop an injection called AntiD, which combats against rhesus disease.

Rhesus disease is a medical condition where the antibodies in a pregnant woman’s blood begin attacking the newborn baby’s blood cells, according to Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). If left untreated, the baby can suffer brain damage or die.

The condition develops when the infant’s mother has rhesus negative blood, and the baby inherits rhesus positive blood from the father.

Doctors believe Harrison’s blood contains these special antibodies because of a blood transfusion he received at age 14 when he underwent a major chest surgery.

After his surgery, Harrison promised to become a blood donor to help others.

Harrison can no longer donate blood because Australia does not allow donors over the age of 81, but the 81-year-old has vowed to continue helping the medical field by donating samples of his DNA for research, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.</s>There are all types of extraordinary people in this world — some of whom are often in the spotlight, and others who go about their lives (sort of) quietly. One remarkable Australian man who's made the news recently would fall into the latter category. But what makes him exceptional, exactly? Well, this man's blood saved 2.4 million babies, and he just made his last donation this week.

James Harrison has donated his blood over 1,170 times in a span of more than six decades, saving more than 2 million infants in the process, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. That's because Harrison has plasma that contains a powerful antibody found in the anti-D immunoglobulin medication, which is used to protect newborns from Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease, a potentially fatal hemolytic disease caused by Rh blood incompatibility between mom and baby, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

And on Friday, the 81-year-old Australian man, known lovingly as "The Man with the Golden Arm," made his final blood donation after doctors advised him to stop in order to protect his own health, according to Newsweek. Harrison said as his blood was drawn for the last time, Newsweek reported, "It's a sad day for me. The end of a long run."

Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease, also known as Rh disease, happens when a pregnant women with Rh negative blood carries a fetus with Rh positive blood, according to Stanford Children's Health. Because of this incompatibility, the mother's immune system registers the fetus's positive blood type as "foreign," and will produce antibodies to attack these "invading" cells. These antibodies can cross the placenta and start to fight the Rh positive cells in the fetus' body during pregnancy and after birth, according to Stanford Children's Health. The disease once affected 20,000 babies a year in the United States alone, but the treatment developed in the 1960s reduced that to about 4,000 babies each year, according to Parents.

Since the mother's antibodies treat the Rh positive blood type as something foreign — and therefore dangerous — the immune response can have devastating effects. Rh disease can lead to still births and multiple miscarriages, as well as brain damage, hearing loss, vision loss, learning difficulties, or fatal anemia in newborns, according to Newsweek.

Before 1967, thousands of babies were dying each year from Rh disease, but, that year, Australian scientists discovered that they could prevent Rh disease by injecting pregnant women with low levels of donated RhD immunoglobulin, which would remove Rh positive blood cells without hurting the baby, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. And it was around that time they also realized Harrison's blood produced a natural — yet rare — combo of RhD-negative blood and Rh positive antibodies, The Herald reported.

Harrison was recruited around that time to donate blood as part of Australia's new Rh program, and was its first donor, according to The Herald. And his last donation was not only bittersweet for Harrison, but also the woman who brought him into the program.

Harrison, who has his own Wikipedia page, is considered a national hero in Australia, and has received a number of awards and honors for his donations and saving millions of babies, according to CNN. That includes the Medal of the Order of Australia, which recognizes extraordinary Australians for their achievements and services in helping their fellow citizens. It's a well-deserved honor for Harrison, of course, because who else can say their blood saved millions of lives?</s>At the age of 14, James Harrison underwent major chest surgery and he required 13 units (3.4 gallons) of blood afterwards. The blood donations saved his life, and he decided that once he turned 18, he would begin donating blood as regularly as he could.

More than 60 years and almost 1,200 donations later, Harrison retired as a blood donor on May 11. His doctors said it was time to cease the donations — and they certainly don't take them lightly. Harrison's plasma contains an antibody that has saved the lives of 2.4 million babies.

Doctors use Harrison's blood to create anti-D, a treatment for Rhesus disease.

This disease, also called Rh disease or Rhesus D Haemolytic Disease (RHD), is the result of the mother and the fetus having different antigens in their blood. If a mother lacks a D antigen, she is Rh-negative, and this can create a problem if the fetus has the D antigen in its blood. The mother's body treats the blood of the fetus as a foreign invader and attacks with antibodies.

These attacks can result in a range of issues for the fetus, including miscarriages, stillbirths, fatal anemia and even heart failure. This normally occurs in second pregnancies when there is an Rh difference between the mother and the fetus because during the first pregnancy, the mother's body didn't have a strong enough immune response to attack.

Australian scientists realized they could stop these attacks from occurring by injecting Rh-negative mothers with anti-D immunoglobulin, which basically removes the Rh-positive blood cells from the fetus in the mother's blood stream before her body can attack them. The anti-D doesn't pass to the fetus, however, keeping both mother and fetus safe. The video explains in more detail how the system works.

The man with the golden arm

Harrison's blood is valuable because he naturally produces Rh-negative blood, which contains Rh-positive antibodies. His blood has been used to create anti-D in Australia since 1967.

Harrison was the program's first donor.

"It's an enormous thing ... He has saved millions of babies. I cry just thinking about it."

Since then, Harrison has donated between 500 and 800 milliliters of blood almost every week. He's made 1,162 donations from his right arm and 10 from his left.

"I'd keep going if they let me," Harrison told the Herald. Doctors had already extended the age limit for blood donations for him, and they're cutting him off now to protect his health.

He made his final donation surrounded by some of the mothers and babies his blood helped save.

Harrison's retirement is a blow to the Rh treatment program in Australia. Only 160 donors support the program, and finding new donors has proven to be difficult. Additionally, attempts to create a synthetic version of anti-D have failed.

But just because Harrison has retired from giving blood doesn't mean he's completely out of the game. Scientists are collecting and cataloging his DNA to create a library of antibodies and white blood cells that could be the future of the anti-D program in Australia.</s>James Harrison has retired after saving the lives of more than 2.4 million babies by donating his blood over the past 60 years.

The "man with the golden arm", as he has been dubbed, told The Sydney Morning Herald that his retirement was "a sad day" and "the end of a lung run".

Mr Harrison's blood contains an extremely rare antibody in his plasma which is used to develop medicine to prevent newborns from dying from Rhesus disease.

The medicine, anti-D, is given to pregnant mothers whose rhesus negative blood is at risk of attacking her baby's rhesus positive blood.

At 81 years of age, Mr Harrison has made his 1,173rd and final donation - meaning he has provided more than a thousand bags full of his life-saving blood.

He holds the Guinness World Record for the number of donations made, and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service said: "His kindness leaves a remarkable legacy, and he has put the challenge out to the Australian community to beat it."

In 1999, Mr Harrison received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his "incredible and ongoing support of the blood service and anti-D programme", the organisation stated.

He is one of only 50 people in Australia believed to have these antibodies in their blood.

"I hope it's a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause," Mr Harrison said.

The super donor began donating blood after he underwent major chest surgery at just 14 years old and depended on the blood of strangers to save his life.

Over a decade after he started donating blood, it was discovered that his contained the vital antibody needed to make the anti-D medicine.

Mr Harrison was happy to continue to donate and switched from plain blood to plasma donations in order to help as many people as possible.

He has now passed the age-limit in Australia to continue giving blood, although he says he would do so if they would let him.</s>
• Australian man James Harrison, 81, has donated blood 1,173 times, saving the lives of 2.4 million babies, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
• On Friday, he made his final donation.
• Harrison's blood contains an unusually high level of an antibody used to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).
• This is a potentially deadly condition that can occur when mothers and their unborn babies have incompatible blood types.
• Harrison has now passed the Australian Red Cross's donor age limit, but he told the Sydney Herald he'd "keep on going if they'd let me."

James Harrison, 81, made his 1,173rd and final blood donation on Friday — the end of a 60-year donation streak that has saved the lives of 2.4 million babies, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. He's known, unsurprisingly, as "the man with the golden arm."

"It's a sad day for me," he told the Herald. "The end of a long run."

It's not just the high number of donations that makes Harrison's story so noteworthy. His blood plasma also happens to contain unusually high levels of an antibody used to make a lifesaving medicine for babies.

Harrison's blood can help women and unborn babies with Rh incompatibility.

"Rh" refers to the Rh factor— a protein on the surface of red blood cells. People who have Rh factor are Rh-positive, and people who don't are Rh-negative, the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) explains.

If a mother is Rh-negative and her unborn baby is Rh-positive, they have Rh incompatibility— and that can be a problem.

During pregnancy, some of the baby's blood can cross into the mother's bloodstream. If a mom and baby have Rh incompatibility, the mother's body will react to the baby's blood cells like they're foreign invaders, creating antibodies to attack and destroy them.

Some pregnant women and their babies have incompatible blood types. Regis Duvignau/Reuters

In a woman's first pregnancy, this usually isn't a problem, because the baby is born before the mom can develop these antibodies, the NHLBI says.

But the antibodies stick around in a mother's body — and if she becomes pregnant again with another Rh-positive baby, hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN) can occur, according to Stanford Children's Health. The terrifying complications of HDN may include anemia, jaundice, heart failure, brain damage, and even death.

Rh-negative moms with Rh-positive babies can take a medicine to prevent HDN.

RhD immunoglobulin (also called anti-D) is an injection that can prevent HDN, according to Stanford Children's Health. It's made from the plasma of donors like Harrison. These donors' unique antibodies, when injected into an Rh-negative mother, prevent her body from attacking the Rh-positive baby's cells.

Many women are given doses at the 28th week of pregnancy and again within 72 hours of giving birth, the Stanford Children's Health website adds.

Harrison was inspired to donate after a childhood surgery.

When he was 14, Harrison underwent a major chest surgery, receiving blood transfusions that saved his life, according to a statement published by Australian Red Cross Blood Service website. He vowed to become a blood donor himself and began as soon as he was old enough. After more than a decade of whole blood donations, his unique antibodies were discovered, and he switched over to donating plasma instead.

Since 1976, Harrison's blood has been used in more than 3 million injections given to Rh-negative Australian women, the organization says. By analyzing data on Australian births, the percentage of the population that got the injections, and the risk of death from HDN, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service has determined that his donations have saved 2.4 million babies, the Sydney Morning Herald explained.

Now, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service ruled that Harrison should end his donations, according to the Sydney Morning Herald report, since he has passed the organization's donor age limit.

But if Harrison had his way, he'd still be offering up his golden arm to donate even more.

"I'd keep on going if they'd let me," he told the Herald.

If you want to become a blood donor, visit the American Red Cross website and search for a blood drive near you.

Sign up here to get INSIDER's favorite stories straight to your inbox.</s>Australian native James Harrison, who has donated blood every week for 60 years, saving over 2.4 million babies in the process, is hanging up his “golden arm” for good.

The 81-year-old has become known as the “man with the golden arm” because his blood contains disease-fighting antibodies that have been used to develop an injection called Anti-D, which helps fight against rhesus disease.

Anti-D is given to mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies, according to the Blood Service. The illness can cause anemia, enlarged liver or spleen, and in worst cases, can result in brain damage or even death in newborns. The condition, called Haemolytic Disease of the Newborn (HDN), is developed when a pregnant woman has rhesus-negative blood (RhD negative), while the baby she’s carrying has rhesus-positive blood (RhD positive).

A mother who has been sensitized to receive rhesus-positive blood during a pregnancy with a rhesus-positive baby may produce antibodies that destroy her unborn child’s “foreign” blood cells.

Because of Harrison’s blood, more than three million doses of Anti-D have been issued to Australian mothers with rhesus-negative blood since 1967, according to the release from the Australian Red Cross.

Upon making his final blood donation this past Friday, Harrison put out the challenge to the Australian community to beat his record – Harrison has donated over 1,100 times.

“I hope it’s a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause,” Harrison said.

WATCH: 10-year-old Leukemia patient Adam Foreman’s wish: “Blood donations so others can survive”

In addition, Harrison’s contribution has made Australia the first country in the world to be self-sufficient in its supply of Anti-D injections.

“Australia owes a big thank you to James Harrison. Australia became the first country in the world to be self-sufficient in the supply of Anti-D, and cases of HDN are rare,” spokesperson Jemma Falkenmire said in a statement to the Australian Red Cross.

Falkenmire told CNN in 2015 that up until 1967 – the year Harrison began donating – “there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn’t know why, and it was awful. Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage. Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time.”

The Blood Service also issued a call Friday for more male donors to follow Harrison’s example.

“Medications like Anti-D are a life-giving intervention for thousands of Australian mums, but they are only available because men like James give blood,”

Harrison realized his blood was unique when he was a teenager, when doctors discovered that the antibodies in his blood could be used to create Anti-D injections.

While doctors haven’t been able to pin down a root cause for Harrison’s rare blood type, they believe it might stem from transfusions he received when he underwent surgery at the age of 14. According to CNN, he’s one of 50 people across Australia to have these antibodies.

Harrison has been recognized several times for this achievement and has also been a vocal advocate for the practice. In 1999, Harrison was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his “service to the community.”</s>After helping to save the babies of more than two million Australian women, an 81-year-old blood donor with a precious antibody has officially ‘retired’ from his selfless duty.

James Harrison, dubbed the ‘man with the golden arm’, has provided 1,117 bags of vital blood which contain an antibody in his plasma, and stops babies dying from Rhesus disease, a form of severe anaemia.

The antibody is used to make a lifesaving medication, Anti-D, as it is given to pregnant mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking and killing their unborn babies.

More than three million doses of Anti-D containing Mr Harrison’s blood have been given to Australian mothers with a negative blood type since 1967.

After donating for the last time today, Mr Harrison issued a challenge to others to break his incredible record, ‘because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause'.

Jemma Falkenmire, spokesperson for the Blood Service, said: ‘Australia owes a big thank you to James Harrison. Australia became the first country in the world to be self-sufficient in the supply of Anti-D.

‘Medications like Anti-D are a life-giving intervention for thousands of Australian mums, but they are only available because men like James give blood.'

His ‘golden arm’ has even helped his own daughter, Tracey, give birth to a healthy son, thanks to her father’s precious blood.

When Mr Harrison started donating, his blood was deemed so special that his life was insured for one million Australian dollars.

Mr Harrison is one of about 50 people in Australia known to have the antibodies.

His generosity as a continuous donor stems from a brush with death at the age of 14, when he had a chest operation, and committed himself to helping others by giving blood on a regular basis.

According to CNN, doctors are unsure why Mr Harrison has this rare blood type, but they concluded that it might have been triggered from the transfusions he received while a teenager, after his operation, which saved his life.

In an interview with the news channel several years ago, he said that despite donating, he had not witnessed the process: ‘Never once have I watched the needle go in my arm.’

Ms Falkenmire said that up until 1967, ‘there were literally thousands of babies dying each year, doctors didn’t know why and it was awful.

'Women were having numerous miscarriages and babies were being born with brain damage. Australia was one of the first countries to discover a blood donor with this antibody, so it was quite revolutionary at the time.’

One of the countless mothers he has helped over the decades is Joy Barnes, who works at the Red Cross Blood Bank in Sydney.

Ms Barnes, who miscarried at four and five months before having treatment, said: 'Without him I would never have been able to have a healthy baby.'</s>James Harrison has donated blood for 60 years, but unlike most donors, his blood contains a precious antibody that is used to make a lifesaving medication called Anti-D. The medicine is given to mothers whose blood is at risk of attacking their unborn babies.

The 81-year-old, affectionately called the "man with the golden arm," has helped save the babies of more than 2 million women, according to the Australian Red Cross. Harrison has donated blood more than 1,100 times. On Friday, he made his final donation, having reached the maximum age allowed for donors in Australia.

"I hope it's a record that somebody breaks, because it will mean they are dedicated to the cause," Harrison said in a statement.

When he was 14 years old, Harrison underwent major surgery and depended on blood transfusions to save his life. Despite his aversion to needles, he pledged to donate as soon as he was old enough and four years later, he kept his promise.

About a decade later, doctors discovered that Harrison's blood contained an important antibody needed to make Anti-D immunoglobin, an injection that helps fight against rhesus disease. That's a dangerous condition that develops when a woman has rhesus-negative blood (RhD negative) and has a baby in her womb with RhD positive blood.

The Anti-D injections work by preventing the woman's body from developing potentially harmful antibodies during pregnancy that could affect her next pregnancy. Without the injections, the next baby could suffer from hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, known as HDN or HDFN, which can be fatal.

In 1999, Harrison received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his ongoing support of the Blood Service and Anti-D program.

"His kindness leaves a remarkable legacy," the Australian Red Cross said in a statement.
James Harrison, an 81-year-old Australian whose blood was used in the development of a treatment for Rh disease that has been credited with saving the lives of over 2 million infants in his country alone, donates blood plasma for the final time, after having regularly donated for over 60 years.