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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. “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. 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. 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. 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.
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.