James Harrison, an 81-year-old man from Australia, has helped save the lives of more than 2 million babies by simply donating his special blood that was used to make a medication that helped prevent life-threatening problems to develop in newborn babies.

Harrison donated blood for 60 years, said the Australian Red Cross Blood Service.

Sadly, Harrison retired from being a blood donor and made his last donation on May 11.

Often called as the “man with the golden arm”, James has donated his special blood over 1,100 times.

According to the Australian Red Cross, the donations of James have helped save the lives of 2.4 million babies.

What is so special about the blood of James?

The blood of James has a rare antibody that is used in making a medication that is called anti-D immunoglobulin, which is often called as Rh immunoglobulin.

The medication is given to those mothers who are at risk of the “Rh incompatibility” with their fetus. This means that the immune system of the mother can attack and destroy the red blood cells of the fetus.

Dr. Saima Aftab, the medical director of the Fetal Care Center at the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, USA, said if this happens, you  “you end up with a situation where a lot of these babies would have a significant amount of their red cells broken down while they were in the womb.”

The incompatibility can cause serious problems for the baby. This includes jaundice, stillbirth, and sometimes brain damage.

Millions of lives are saved every year thanks to blood donors like James Harrison.

Dr, Saima said, “The discovery of this antibody is one of the biggest life-saving discoveries of the last century.”