The Man Who Saved 2.4 Million Lives

By Shlomo Maital

James Harrison

     In the Old Testament, Book of Genesis,  God gives instructions to Abraham:   “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.”

     Jewish people interpret this to be a general commandment for all humanity – to live to be a blessing for others.  Many of us do find ways to make others happy, among friends and family and neighbors.

     But think of James Harrison, an Australian who recently passed away at age 88.  He was a blessing on an unimaginable scale – he saved the lives of 2.4 million babies.  I found this in a report on the BBC.

      How did he do it?  It started when Harrison received a massive blood transfusion at age 14, when he fell ill.  He decided then he would pass it on.

       Background:   Blood types can be Rh positive or Rh negative.  Rh stands for Rhesus factor.  It indicates whether the Rhesus protein is present on the surface of blood cells (Rh positive) or whether it is not present (Rh negative). 

        When the blood of a pregnant woman’s fetus is Rh-positive and it  gets into the bloodstream of an Rh-negative woman, her body will recognize that the Rh-positive blood is not hers. Her body will try to destroy it by making anti-Rh antibodies. These antibodies can cross the placenta and attack the fetus’s blood cells.  Data show that Rh negative occurs in 6% of all women, or one in 16.   Blood tests are regularly done for pregnant women, to alert doctors to the problem.

      Harrison’s blood happens to be rich in a rare antibody, Anti-D, that is crucial for mothers and their babies.  The BBC explains:

     “Anti-D jabs protect unborn babies from a deadly blood disorder called haemolytic disease of the foetus and newborn, or HDFN.  The condition occurs at pregnancy when the mother’s red blood cells are incompatible with that of their growing baby.  The mother’s immune system then sees the baby’s blood cells as a threat and produces antibodies to attack them. This can seriously harm the baby, causing severe anaemia, heart failure, or even death. [Anti-D destroys the offending antibodies].

       “Before anti-D interventions were developed in the mid-1960s, one in two babies diagnosed with HDFN died.   There are fewer than 200 anti-D donors in Australia, but they help an estimated 45,000 mothers and their babies every year, according to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, also known as Lifeblood.”

        Harris contributed blood plasma every week or 10 days for his entire life, for 70 years. Note: Not his red cells, just the plasma.  In a plasma-only donation, the liquid portion of the donor’s blood is separated from the cells. Blood is drawn from one arm and sent through a high-tech machine that collects the plasma. The donor’s red blood cells and platelets are then returned to the donor along with some saline.]    The Anti-D antibody was processed from Harris’s plasma.

         The infant death problem stemming from the hemolytic condition was noted in print as early as 1609.   It took sleuthing by researchers in the UK, Canada and the US to figure out the cause and to find a solution.  They too are a blessing, saving millions of precious tiny lives.

          Elon Musk and the Trump Administration, strongly supported by Bible-believing Christian groups, are using a chain saw to decimate medical research, of the kind that brings blessings.  Like Anti-D.

           There will be no forgiveness.