Australian Hero Exits Stage Left

[Socrates]

James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for having saved
the lives of more than two million babies, has died at age 88.

Harrison, whose plasma contained a “rare and precious antibody” known as
Anti-D, donated blood more than 1,100 times, according to Australian Red
Cross Lifeblood, which confirmed his death in a statement published
Saturday.

Known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” Harrison died in his sleep at a
nursing home north of Sydney on February 17th.

Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by having had received multiple
blood transfusions himself following lung surgery at the age of 14.

He started donating plasma at 18 and did so every two weeks until he was
81, the upper age limit for blood donation in Australia.

[badgolferman]

Post by Socrates
James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for having
saved the lives of more than two million babies, has died at age 88.
Harrison, whose plasma contained a “rare and precious antibody” known
as Anti-D, donated blood more than 1,100 times, according to
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, which confirmed his death in a
statement published Saturday.
Known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” Harrison died in his sleep at
a nursing home north of Sydney on February 17th.
Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by having had received
multiple blood transfusions himself following lung surgery at the age
of 14.
He started donating plasma at 18 and did so every two weeks until he
was 81, the upper age limit for blood donation in Australia.

My Red Cross app says I've reached the 2 gallon mark and donated 22
times. Looks like I've got quite a way to go to reach hero status.

[Ted H]

On Tue, 4 Mar 2025 15:57:08 -0000 (UTC),

Post by badgolferman

Post by Socrates
James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for
having saved the lives of more than two million babies, has
died at age 88.
Harrison, whose plasma contained a “rare and precious antibody”
known as Anti-D, donated blood more than 1,100 times, according
to Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, which confirmed his death in
a statement published Saturday.
Known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” Harrison died in his
sleep at a nursing home north of Sydney on February 17th.
Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by having had received
multiple blood transfusions himself following lung surgery at
the age of 14.
He started donating plasma at 18 and did so every two weeks
until he was 81, the upper age limit for blood donation in
Australia.

My Red Cross app says I've reached the 2 gallon mark and
donated 22 times. Looks like I've got quite a way to go to
reach hero status.

I was in that vicinity of amount donated until I had a hideous
experience with a phlebotomist in training a few years ago and
decided to never go back. She tried three times to get the
cannula into a vein, and missed badly each time. The supervisor
*finally* took over, but she did a poor job too. So much pain.

Matters were made worse when the trainee tried to connect the
manifold for collection tube use and somehow managed to splash
(my) blood everywhere. <shudder>

[badgolferman]

Post by Ted H
On Tue, 4 Mar 2025 15:57:08 -0000 (UTC),

Post by badgolferman

Post by Socrates
James Harrison, a prolific Australian blood donor famed for
having saved the lives of more than two million babies, has
died at age 88.
Harrison, whose plasma contained a “rare and precious antibody”
known as Anti-D, donated blood more than 1,100 times, according
to Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, which confirmed his death in
a statement published Saturday.
Known as the “Man with the Golden Arm,” Harrison died in his
sleep at a nursing home north of Sydney on February 17th.
Harrison’s altruistic mission was driven by having had received
multiple blood transfusions himself following lung surgery at
the age of 14.
He started donating plasma at 18 and did so every two weeks
until he was 81, the upper age limit for blood donation in
Australia.

My Red Cross app says I've reached the 2 gallon mark and
donated 22 times. Looks like I've got quite a way to go to
reach hero status.

I was in that vicinity of amount donated until I had a hideous
experience with a phlebotomist in training a few years ago and
decided to never go back. She tried three times to get the
cannula into a vein, and missed badly each time. The supervisor
finally took over, but she did a poor job too. So much pain.
Matters were made worse when the trainee tried to connect the
manifold for collection tube use and somehow managed to splash
(my) blood everywhere. <shudder>

For some reason they often have a hard time finding my vein and end up
poking me several times before finally getting the blood to flow.
There have been at least a couple times where a hematoma occurs from
all the missed jabs. I stopped going for a while but finally got over
my fear and went back. I've learned to tell them about the veins and
ask for their most experienced jabber each time.