How many of you have ever heard of James Harrison? Probability says, 10%.
When James was a 14 year old kid, he got really sick, as the story goes. One of his lungs had to be removed, and he needed a large amount of blood.
He got 2 gallons of donated blood, and — after knowing that — he decided he would donate blood when he reached the required age.
When he turned 18, he donated blood every three weeks for eleven years! And that’s not even the best part yet!
Meanwhile, doctors were struggling with cases of a potentially fatal condition called Rh incompatibility, also known as rhesus isoimmunization or Rh disease. It occurs when a pregnant woman has an Rh-negative blood type but the fetus she's carrying is Rh-positive.
In some pregnant women, Rh disease causes their antibodies to attack the fetus's red blood cells. Scientists needed a way to turn this reaction off, and in Harrison's blood, they found it: a rare antibody known as Rh (D) immune globulin or anti-D.
Turns out that Harisson had anti-D in his blood due to the donations he received when he had the lung-removal operation.
He continued donating for 60 years and saved approximately 2 million babies!
All these 2 million people owe their lives to this man!
