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The Man With The Most Valuable Blood On Earth

this is the story of how one man saved over 2 million babies all while sitting down huge thanks to Abbott for sponsoring this video it all started in Australia in 1951 a 14-year-old boy named James Harrison underwent major chest surgery to remove an infected lung the procedure and Recovery were absolutely brutal requiring him to stay in the hospital for 3 months and receive over 13 units of blood miraculously James survived knowing how close he came came to death James was overcome with gratitude for the nameless donations that saved his life so he decided to pay the world back and pledged to start donating himself when he turned 18 there was just one problem James hated needles how is he going to donate blood well he had a very simple but evidence-based approach distraction he just wouldn't look so 2 days later after his 18th birthday James rolled up his sleeve turned his head the other way and the donation process had begun turns out it wasn't so bad after all and James left with his head held high proud to return the favor of donating blood that had saved him years before maybe his donation would help a teenager going in for surgery just like him maybe it would be used to treat a patient who survived a traumatic accident like a car crash donated blood can be used to help treat cancer patients or mothers delivering babies the uses were truly endless and in reality James was just happy to contribute and save a few lives what he didn't realize was he would actually wind up saving Millions including his own grandson here's how out his first donation went so well that he went to donate again and again and again for years of course waiting the required several days between donations before popping into one of Australia's donation centers then one day something strange happened you see in the 1960s Australia was battling a bizarre epidemic thousands of babies were dying every year some were still born and others were born with severe brain damage but it was a complete mystery Australia poured their resources into solving the problem and until doctors finally realize the cause Reese's disease in order to explain this disease we have to start with blood types you might have heard of a b o but following one of those letters you might have also heard the words positive or negative that represents the Rh factor if you RH positive that means your red blood cells have a certain protein if you're Rh negative you don't have it but if you Rh negative and are exposed to someone else's blood that is RH positive you will start creating antibodies called RH hiig to attack it this scenario presents itself as a challenge usually during pregnancy more specifically a second pregnancy for example an Rh negative mother is pregnant with a baby that is RH positive the mother's blood comes into contact with the babies and starts creating antibodies against it now this usually doesn't harm that first baby but if there happens to be a future pregnancy and that next baby is RH positive also the mother's blood is already primed to attack that baby sadly in the 19 60s this RH disease was sweeping the country and doctors were racing to develop a cure they work day and night studying the condition testing treatment after treatment they eventually discovered that in order to solve the problem they were going to need those special antibodies rarely found in human blood but in a nation of over 10 million Australians how are they going to find that needle in the Hast stack doctors started looking in the most obvious place the existing record of blood donors one at a time they reviewed samples from previous donors thousands of names with no antibodies until still James Harrison and his blood didn't just contain them he was unusually producing them constantly Australia no longer just wanted james' blood they needed it so authorities came to James with a humble request would he continue to donate his blood and work with health officials to develop a cure James answered the call opened his veins and gave all he could scientists took the donations separated his blood into red blood cells which they then returned back to James and continued testing his plasma and after countless test and failed batches they finally wait plasma let me explain turns out your blood is actually made up of mostly plasma which is a straw colored fluid that helps transport your red blood cells platelets and other goodies throughout your body I actually did a video in the past where I showed my own Plasma on camera it's super important but unfortunately plasma can't be made in a lab and we're in serious need of more that's where you actually come in you don't need to have james' antibody Rich special blood to help you see there's a serious need for donors because the need for plasma derived medicines has dramatically risen over the last 20 years with more and more people needing these therapies to treat primary immuno deficiency diseases hemophilia Burns and so many more that's why it's so important to take a page from James's book and go out to donate yourself there are plasma donation centers all across the country for your convenience the process usually takes under 2 hours and you can go up to twice a week in the US I see the importance of plasma Don donations all the time in my office and remember how my mom desperately needed plasma when she was battling cancer that still stays with me over 125,000 Americans rely on medications made from plasma and you can make a world of a difference right now to learn more and find out where you can donate visit be1 donor.com or click the link in the description now all right let's get back to our hero james' plasma was a success and scientists used it to create a treatment called anti-d interesting name when timed correctly giving it to a pregnant patient prevents the immune system from making those harmful antibodies towards the baby's blood basically it hides the baby's RH positive blood from the mother's immune system so her body doesn't react against it thereby protecting them and the future babies from being attacked Australia rolled out the anti-d and boy did it make a difference he made the decision to switch from donating blood to donating plasma as it would allow him to donate more frequently thousands of babies were being saved every year so James kept donating and donating and donating every couple of weeks or so for 1 year 5 years 25 years 60 years all in all James made 1,173 donations over six decades saving the lives of over 2 million babies but the story doesn't end there you see he gave his final donation at the age of 81 finally retiring to focus on his own health there are only about 200 people in Australia whose blood produces the necessary antibodies and James definitely donated the most that means for 60 plus years every single batch of anti-d that had been produced in Australia was made in part from his blood and now researchers are actually working to develop a synthetic version of his antibodies that they're playfully calling James in a jar talk about bad medical puns his 1,173 donations is a world record and one that he's actually eager for someone to break because of how many lives that would save he probably also didn't expect that many years after all that donating his own daughter would receive an anti injection made from his blood saving the life of her unborn son a generation later that boy James's grandson is now expecting his first child James blood literally created a treatment that had saved his own family these days James lives a peaceful life on the coast of Australia retired from his career working on railroads proud of the lives he's been able to save and despite his impact James remains humble saying we can blame him for Australia's huge increase in population visit be the one donor or click the link in the description now to find a donation center near you so you can follow James's lead and help save lives a teenage girl actually fell out of an airplane and crash landed into the Amazon jungle click here to see the miraculous story of how she survived and as always stay happy and healthy

Dr.

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