When James Harrison was 14, he had lung surgery in Australia and needed many blood transfusions. He woke up in intensive care determined to give back. Encouraged by his father, who was a donor, he started giving blood in 1954 at age 18. His plasma turned out to contain a rare antibody called Anti-D, used to make medicine that protects unborn babies whose mothers’ blood might attack them. Harrison never missed a single appointment. He donated every two weeks until he retired in 2018 at age 81, giving 1,173 times in all. Lifeblood credits him with saving more than 2.4 million Australian babies. He liked to say that it does not hurt, and the life you save could be your own.
