James Harrison, Who Has Helped Save Lives of More Than 2.4 Million Australian Babies, Retires (cnn.com)

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James Harrison, Who Has Helped Save Lives of More Than 2.4 Million Australian Babies, Retires (cnn.com)

Posted by msmash on Sunday May 13, 2018 @10:00AM from the Man-With-the-Golden-Arm dept.

Most people, when they retire, get a gold watch. James Harrison deserves so much more than that. From a report: Harrison, known as the "Man With the Golden Arm," has donated blood nearly every week for 60 years. After all those donations, the 81-year-old Australian man "retired" Friday. The occasion marked the end of a monumental chapter. According to the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, he has helped saved the lives of more than 2.4 million Australian babies. Harrison's blood has unique, disease-fighting antibodies that have been used to develop an injection called Anti-D, which helps fight against rhesus disease. This disease is a condition where a pregnant woman's blood actually starts attacking her unborn baby's blood cells. In the worst cases, it can result in brain damage, or death, for the babies.

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It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:08 · Score: 1

But we cannot rely on a lucky individual realizing their luck and sharing so readily.
Why do so many Australians get rhesus? Even over 60 years that is a lot for something so serious.
Is there another way to fight this disease?
Hopefullly special blood isn't the only solution.
1. Re:It was a good run by ShanghaiBill · 2018-05-13 10:12 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  A bone marrow transplant might also work.
2. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:22 · Score: -1
  
  You're a fucking moron Bill.
3. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:24 · Score: 0
  
  You're a fucking genius Bill.
4. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:34 · Score: -1
  
  They might use CRISPR to pull Bill's head out of his double-helix asshole someday.
5. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:35 · Score: 1
  
  You're a fucking... oh wait, this is a gross misuse of the word fucking. There is no sex going on.
6. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 11:00 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  For Unlawful CRISPR Knowledge - ing
7. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 12:00 · Score: 0
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  A bone marrow transplant might also work.
  Assuming he only gets usual donation rates, then the guy should get an award. That is an impressive lifetime of service that I doubt anyone could even begin to aspire to. Sure it was a fluke of genetics probably, but he was consistent, and went every week...
8. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 12:34 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  A bone marrow transplant might also work.
  Assuming he only gets usual donation rates, then the guy should get an award. That is an impressive lifetime of service that I doubt anyone could even begin to aspire to. Sure it was a fluke of genetics probably, but he was consistent, and went every week...
  Blood donors in Australia get $0.
9. Re:It was a good run by sheramil · 2018-05-13 12:47 · Score: 1
  
  Assuming he only gets usual donation rates, then the guy should get an award. That is an impressive lifetime of service that I doubt anyone could even begin to aspire to. Sure it was a fluke of genetics probably, but he was consistent, and went every week...
  Blood donors in Australia get $0.
  Not entirely true. You do get a choice of a small bottle of orange juice or a bickie ("cookie", for the American readers).
10. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 12:58 · Score: -1
  
  Why was this modded down? This is 2,4 million more mouths to feed. Slashdot is 100% on this AGW bandwagon, but we cannot make the carbon footprint shrink the way of the low hanging fruit.
11. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 13:29 · Score: 0, Funny
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  A bone marrow transplant might also work.
  Heavens, no! We should celebrate his death as he worked to reverse all the good the abortion industry does. That's 2.4 million more mouths to feed, house, clothe, educate, and employ, and 2.4 million more sources of CO2 and pollution that did not have to exist.
12. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 13:47 · Score: 0
  
  Can't patent someone else's genes. No money in it. No interest.
13. Re: It was a good run by CaffeinatedBacon · 2018-05-13 14:11 · Score: 2
  
  Since he was donating his blood, not selling it.He likely only got a biscuit and maybe a cup of tea.
14. Re: It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:15 · Score: 0
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  A bone marrow transplant might also work.
  You should quit tech and become a medical consultant Bill.
  Millions of babies are going to die if not for you.
15. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:42 · Score: -1
  
  Have you seen this Slashdot video yet? Have you bought the family friendly Goat C shirt?
  - FatCashewsLoveMe
16. Re:It was a good run by fluffernutter · 2018-05-13 14:45 · Score: 0
  
  In America, nothing gets done without money attached. The concept of doing things to help people is lost.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
17. Re:It was a good run by ShanghaiBill · 2018-05-13 15:16 · Score: 1
  
  Blood donors in Australia get $0.
  In America, we often get free t-shirts. I am a member of the "10 Gallon Club", with 80 donations*, and I have about a dozen Red Cross t-shirts. We also get coupons for a pint of free ice cream, "a pint for a pint".
  * I have "baby blood", that is type O and free of cytomegalovirus antibodies, and can be used with newborns, so they always schedule me to donate again as soon as I am eligible.
18. Re:It was a good run by JMJimmy · 2018-05-13 15:22 · Score: 1
  
  There are 160 other donors in Australia alone. He was just the first.
  He also didn't retire, he was retired as they were worried about his health (he'd continued to donate after the legal cut off age)
19. Re:It was a good run by sonamchauhan · 2018-05-13 15:27 · Score: 1
  
  One of those 2.4 million may have been you.
20. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 16:50 · Score: 0
  
  Assuming he only gets usual donation rates, then the guy should get an award. That is an impressive lifetime of service that I doubt anyone could even begin to aspire to. Sure it was a fluke of genetics probably, but he was consistent, and went every week...
  Blood donors in Australia get $0.
  Not entirely true. You do get a choice of a small bottle of orange juice or a bickie ("cookie", for the American readers).
  No, still $0 - it isn't possible to buy the flavour of that particular drink and bickie...
21. Re:It was a good run by Xenx · 2018-05-13 17:39 · Score: 1
  
  The reality is that statement is largely untrue. The scales just tend to be very large, or very small. So, you either hear about the rich people doing it (for the tax break, or whatever other excuse people think they do it for), or you just don't hear about it at all. You have plenty of volunteers at soup kitchens, people donating small chunks of money, handouts to the homeless, and so on. It happens all the time, but it doesn't make the news.
22. Re:It was a good run by dcrisp · 2018-05-13 17:50 · Score: 1
  
  I believe they LET / ASKED him to keep donating after the usual Age cut off date because they needed his blood and he was a very good producer of what they needed. But he finally reached the age where even the blood bank said "yeah nah Maaaaaaate! thanks! been wonderful, but we really don't want to kill you so this is your last"
23. Re: It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 19:21 · Score: 0
  
  Feel free to improve the planet by commiting suicide, then.
24. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 19:37 · Score: -1
  
  MODDOWN! ; creimer spam post again!
  creimer wants you to click on his youtube channel, then click on his stupid amazon affiliate link spam on Youtube. There is nothing of value on creimer youtube channel. Only creimer click-bot goes there.
  
  The tests we ran on Chris have shown that Chris has the intelligence of an ameba:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  So, technically, he is able to conceive some kind of agenda but it will be silly or impossible to follow on a human scale.
  For example, Chris had an agenda to post anything he felt like on Slashdot which did not work well because it was based on his false beliefs that he had an infinite number of karma points as he wrote here several times.
  Several people here explained to Chris that karma maxed out at some level like 50 or so but Chris kept on insisting that his python script had confirmed that he had millions of karma points!
  Oh well, as I wrote before: "It isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody."
  For the valuable /. users that might already have read the following, please note that there is an important update.
  IMPORTANT UPDATE:
  Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education has invested money to buy Chris a new chair:
  http://www.keynamics.com/image...
  Information about Christopher Dale Reimer and autistic people:
  Autistic people have obsessions about things normal people don't care. For example, one of our autistic patient went haywire when he realized that there was a penny missing in his pocket change.
  To calm him down, one of our educator pretended to have found it on the floor and gave a penny to him.
  The autistic patient condition went even worse because he realized it wasn't the same penny!
  Chris has an obsession with budgeting every penny. He doesn't understand that most people do not budget to the penny and have a flexible amount they allow for miscellaneous items.
  I am Nancy Guerrero and I am Director of Special Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. We use Chris' (a.k.a. creimer,cdreimer) picture in our document because he is the hardest case we have ever had to handle:
  http://www.sccoe.org/depts/stu...
  Our artists were inspired by the low carb diet that Christopher follows scrupulously for the small lunch box and by the picture linked below for the rest. I am sure that you will notice the similarities such as the bump on the side of his chest and more:
  https://ibb.co/gVad65
  Please be easy on Christopher although, I am aware that some of our staff handling Chris post joke comments here and obvoiusly, the Santa Clara County Office of Education disapprove that behavior vehemently:
  http://ibb.co/mRVSaG
  But it isn't Chris' fault if he is the way he is. We do the best we can do with him and he is partially integrated into society. We try to cure his abnormal need for attention but he is kind of stubborn and won't listen to anybody.
  Thank You dear users,
  ---
  Nancy Guerrero
  Director
  Special Education
  Santa Clara County Office of Education
  
  Exactly Nancy,
  It seems like Chris is a victim here. He keeps on reading those SEO, youtube algorithm, basically get rich quick sites. He doesn't realize that he is the fish for them since they make money off him with their own schemes. Then, he wastes his time trying to implement what those sites suggest and he ends up disturbing people.
  I mean, those crooks tell Chris that h
25. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 21:17 · Score: -1
  
  One of those 2.4 million may have been you.
  No, as I am not genetically defective.
  But what I find fascinating in a clinical-psychology way is that you're OK with many times more lives snuffed out, most without any diseases or genetic/other defects, deliberately and intentionally killed without being guilty of any crime, as long as it's called an "abortion".
  If it's just cells as pro-abortionists claim, why are we talking about using CRISPR to save unborn babies with genetic defects? Just trash the failed specimen and start another if you feel you must bring another costly source of CO2 and pollution into existence.
  Stop wasting societiy's resources, wealth, time, and energy. This isn't just about you and your precious crotch-flowers. There are other, already grown and productive, members of society that could better utilize those resources and provide more value to society in return for the investment.
26. Re:It was a good run by dwywit · 2018-05-13 21:26 · Score: 1
  
  In Oz, it's a bottle of water or juice, and a packet of crisps. That's mainly to make you wait around to see if you get a vaso-vagal reaction. That's a rapid drop of blood pressure leading to fainting. I saw it happen once during a donation. The donor was quickly laid out flat in the reclining chair, and the nurse in charge was on the phone, looking very concerned.
  I once had a delayed reaction to a donation, albeit a few hours later. It wasn't a big deal, just light-headed for 20 minutes. When I phoned in to report it, I was rapidly booted up the chain of command to an actual doctor, who told me not to worry, but bring a driver next time.
  Here, you might get an item on the local news "feel-good" section when you hit a significant milestone, e.g. 25, 50, or 100 donations. The blood bank does hand out milestone keyrings, though.
  OTOH, I've heard that, unofficially, anyone holding one of the milestone keyrings gets priority attention should they arrive in the casualty dept at hospitals.
  
  --
  They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
27. Re:It was a good run by dwywit · 2018-05-13 21:37 · Score: 1
  
  I've seen this report on some other websites and the comments can be difficult to swallow.
  Some people actually believe he should continue to donate - that the benefit outweighs the risk.
  He's had one lung since 14, and his donations have positively affected MILLIONS of lives, yet some people opine that he should continue.
  I don't think those people have any idea how long even minor puncture wounds can take to heal, and how degraded your immune system is, by that age. You're at greater risk of infection, even when proper procedures are followed.
  
  --
  They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
28. Re:It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 23:25 · Score: 0
  
  Just look at what the demographics of the people who statistically are more likely to get an abortion and you'll see why democrats want them snuffed out.
  The legacy of democrats owning slaves is still alive and well, they just don't call it that anymore. To their credit, it is much harder to break the chains if you don't think you are a slave at all. It's a brilliant scheme.
29. Re: It was a good run by xuchilpaba · 2018-05-14 00:17 · Score: 1
  
  Who the fuck are you to judge people? If you have the ability to own a device just to shitpost here and waste society's resources, people can do whatever they want. Are you going to take care of the unwanted baby which would have been taken by abortion? On the other hand, some people doesn't like to lose a child. It has devastating effects on females to lose a baby. Who the fuck are you to judge them because they save their baby? Fucking hypocrites
30. Re:It was a good run by MightyYar · 2018-05-14 00:37 · Score: 1
  
  This is objectively not true.
  
  --
  W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
31. Re:It was a good run by houghi · 2018-05-14 00:40 · Score: 1
  
  You are somehow confirming his point. I would go for another example.
  
  --
  Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
32. Re: It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 03:41 · Score: 0
  
  You are an idiot. The kids that get this are not defective in any way. They have a blood type that their mother's immune system doesn't know about and tries to destroy.
33. Re: It was a good run by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 04:21 · Score: 0
  
  You are an idiot. The kids that get this are not defective in any way. They are simply unwanted by their mother and she succeeds in destroying them.
34. Re:It was a good run by DutchUncle · 2018-05-14 08:11 · Score: 1
  
  I used to give blood 5 or 6 times a year. I got juice *and* a cookie.
35. Re:It was a good run by eric_harris_76 · 2018-05-19 02:28 · Score: 1
  
  We should use CRISPR to splice his gene for the anit-body into another donor.
  "We"? Who is part of that "we" with you?
  
  --
  There's no time like the present. Well, the past used to be.
Re:Is there another way to fight this disease? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:26 · Score: -1

Eat at In-N-Out, kangaroo meat is good for you.
Good on you mate by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:29 · Score: 1

That is some legacy.
1. Re:Good on you mate by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 20:10 · Score: 0
  
  Killing a million gets you a statue and honorary street.
  How about saving a million?
Democrats in the US... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:33 · Score: -1

consider him a murderer since the allowed babies to live. They support Margret Sanger's Planned Parenthood that was created to enforce eugenics.
1. Re:Democrats in the US... by dmr001 · 2018-05-13 11:31 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  Yes, Democrats have a well-known negative stance about Rh-positive babies. Including A+, B+, AB+, and of course O+(?)
  Oooh-kay. For those of you not familiar with basic newborn hematology, if a mom has Rh-negative blood (relatively rare compared at 15% to Rh-positive blood) and the baby has Rh-positive blood, and during pregnancy the mom's blood gets exposed to babies (can happen in car accidents and other placental problems resulting in fetal-maternal hemorrhage - the fetus's blood ends up in mom's circulation) the mom will start to make antibodies against the babies Rh antigens (more specifically, Rh-D antigens - there's more than one - Rhesus is a whole group; the D antigen is the troublesome one). This is one of the reasons couples contemplating marriage used to get blood tests in the United States, before the introduction of the medicine folks like James Harrison made possible.
  In the United States, anti-D is typically referred to by its brand name, RhoGAM. It has antibodies to Rh-D - just a small amount, though. You inject this into a mom, her immune system detects them, and then if it sees actual anti-D from the fetus her immune system doesn't freak out and attack the fetal blood cells. Now and then we run into patients who do not like vaccines, which RhoGAM more or less is. The first baby is fine. The second baby to be exposed will often die (NSFW: pictures). In babies who don't die from hemolytic disease of the newborn (where their blood cells are destroyed, by maternal antibodies, among other problems) they can suffer brain damage. Treatment involves exchange transfusion and, in less severe cases, phototherapy, where we shine 460 nm light on them for a few days—hopefully not knocking too many DNA off the strand in the process.
  Alternatively, you can take your chances with red raspberry and nettle tea, according to this person who claims to uphold evidence-based wellness, though she doesn't actually cite any evidence.
  RhoGAM is made from pooled human plasma, like the gentleman cited in the article. He just happened to have a substantial amount of the antibodies, likely the result of blood transfusion exposure.
2. Re:Democrats in the US... by grep+-v+'.*'+* · 2018-05-13 12:22 · Score: 1
  
  claims to uphold evidence-based wellness, though she doesn't actually cite any evidence.
  Evidence is for suckers that believe the system's here to help them. I know I'm right, why? Because I say so. If I was wrong I wouldn't be saying this.
  
  Don't believe those smarty-pants "scientists" with all of their "evidence" and "trials" -- they just want to experiment on you and get you to buy their product to help fund the system. So order from me now -- only $19.99 with free shipping!
  
  --
  If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
3. Re: Democrats in the US... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:41 · Score: 0
  
  Democrats want babies to die. Especially black babies.
  What's sad is that I'm not being facetious or misrepresenting their position.
4. Re: Democrats in the US... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:48 · Score: 0
  
  They just want babies like YOU to die, preferably in a fire of some sort. They think morons like you are bad for human survival overall, and they're right.
5. Re:Democrats in the US... by dwywit · 2018-05-13 21:31 · Score: 2
  
  Yes, apparently he had transfusion/s during surgery at 14, where a lung was removed.
  
  --
  They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 10:47 · Score: 0

Hardly. Maybe reduced the risk for those babies, but most of them would've survived.
1. Re:2.4 million? by ShanghaiBill · 2018-05-13 11:15 · Score: 1
  
  Hardly. Maybe reduced the risk for those babies, but most of them would've survived.
  Indeed. 2.4M is about 10% of the population of Australia. Rh disease is only a concern in about 2% of births, and even with no treatment, most of them would have survived.
2. Re: 2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 11:26 · Score: 1
  
  I, for one, would rather not survive brain damage.
3. Re:2.4 million? by plopez · 2018-05-13 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  over 60 years.
  
  --
  putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
4. Re:2.4 million? by skegg · 2018-05-13 11:28 · Score: 1
  
  has donated blood nearly every week for 60 years
  Surely that would skew the stats? If he's donated nearly every week since the late 50's, that duration would well account for 10% of the population, even accommodating for a significant migrant intake over that time.
5. Re:2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 13:28 · Score: 0
  
  How many babies have YOU saved, miserable worthless anonymous basement dwelling troll ?
6. Re:2.4 million? by ShanghaiBill · 2018-05-13 14:12 · Score: 1
  
  If he's donated nearly every week since the late 50's, that duration would well account for 10% of the population
  You misunderstand. I am not disputing that 10% of the population received the antibody as a precaution, based on their parent's blood types. That may be true. But few of those babies would have actually got the disease, and far fewer of them would have DIED. So it is silly to say that he "saved the lives" of 2.4 million people, as the headline says.
  The number of lives saved is likely "only" a few thousand.
7. Re: 2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:20 · Score: 0
  
  Indeed. 2.4M is about 10% of the population of Australia. Rh disease is only a concern in about 2% of births, and even with no treatment, most of them would have survived.
  60 years ago the population of Australia was less than 10 million.
  This statistic is idiotic any way you look at it.
8. Re: 2.4 million? by fluffernutter · 2018-05-13 14:48 · Score: 1
  
  you forgot. 'like ShanghaiBill'.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
9. Re:2.4 million? by fluffernutter · 2018-05-13 14:50 · Score: 1
  
  It's not just about life and death though. Babies that survive with serious deficiencies become a major drain on parents, healthcare, and society at large.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
10. Re:2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 14:57 · Score: 0
  
  Babies not surviving is God's way of saying he wants them dead.
11. Re: 2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 19:24 · Score: 0
  
  Which one?
12. Re:2.4 million? by F.Ultra · 2018-05-14 03:46 · Score: 1
  
  So saving those babies is our way of saying that we don't want God? Let's save more babies then!
13. Re: 2.4 million? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 04:24 · Score: 0
  
  TFA specifically stated 'saved the lives'.
14. Re:2.4 million? by PackMan97 · 2018-05-14 06:03 · Score: 1
  
  What about the babies those babies wil have? And the grandbabies? etc. Go out a few more generations and you could easily be at 2.4 million. No to mention, one of those babies could end up curing cancer, or discovering the warp engine and take humanity extra-solar! Maybe one of those will help defeat Thanos and find a way to rewind the big snap? Let's face it, he could be responsible for humanity even having a future at all!....or he could have saved the next Hitler, Stalin or Mao....so really who knows?
Gonna sound bad but.. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 11:01 · Score: -1

This is actually the worse possible outcome. I am so sad for these kids that survived, and I hope they never realize the thing I just did.
This guy has been the sole reason millions of kids will grow up healthy to perpetuate; Now the number of babies needing this to not die or be harmed by it will grow exponentially based on their own evolutionary success.. and there will be no more treatment available from this guys "golden arm" so they will be forced by lack of a treatment to suffer or die.
So wouldn't that mean that his poor guy's attempts to do good were actually enabled suffering and pain with his dedication and efforts? That's a difficult thought.
So what is more honorable? Letting the smaller number of children die? Or Setting up millions more to do so?
1. Re:Gonna sound bad but.. by another_twilight · 2018-05-13 12:20 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  You don't have the slightest idea what you are talking about.
  Children of Rhesus negative mothers and Rhesus positive fathers will be Rhesus positive and at risk of their mother developing antibodies to their blood (as as second child after the mother has been sensitised by the first child, or as the result of the mother being exposed to the child's blood). High risk of still birth or major problems for the child.
  If this is prevented, they aren't affected. They go on to be Rhesus positive. Like the majority of the population. In as much as Rhesus negative is as low as 10% in some populations, by increasing the number of surviving Rhesus positive children you are _reducing_ the risk in the general population over time.
2. Re:Gonna sound bad but.. by Cinnamon+Beige · 2018-05-13 14:31 · Score: 2
  
  Children of Rhesus negative mothers and Rhesus positive fathers will be Rhesus positive and at risk of their mother developing antibodies to their blood (as as second child after the mother has been sensitised by the first child, or as the result of the mother being exposed to the child's blood). High risk of still birth or major problems for the child.
  The gene for Rh- is recessive. Citation. I ended up having to explain this to my Mom--whose genotype here I actually do know, without any need to test it, because I know hers and my maternal grandfather's blood types.
  Before Anti-D injections were available, it was generally fatal and the only way a later child would survive is if the father's genotype was Rh+/Rh-. This was the case with my maternal grandfather; his Rh type was known at birth..and I know the genotypes for all of his siblings. (If you're wondering: Rh+/Rh-, all but the first died of hemolytic disease of the newborn. The firstborn, a boy, opted to slide down a railing and land on spikes...)
3. Re:Gonna sound bad but.. by another_twilight · 2018-05-13 15:10 · Score: 1
  
  I stand corrected. Thank you
*cough*whocares*cough* by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 11:16 · Score: -1

Big. Fat. Hairy. Deal. Is this really something that is 'news for nerds' or 'lies that matter?'
Give me some made up Trump-Russia BS or something. This is isn't even entertaining to read.
Nearly every week? by CrimsonAvenger · 2018-05-13 12:12 · Score: 3, Informative

I think not.
TFA says he donated a bit over 1100 times over 60 years.
For the calendar-challenged among us, there are 3128 weeks in 60 years. And 1100 is NOT almost 3128....
Note that this should not be read to denigrate the phenomenal amount of blood this guy donated over the years. Just the idiots who put "nearly every week" into TFA....

--

"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
1. Re:Nearly every week? by Solandri · 2018-05-13 17:38 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  He's actually donating plasma, not blood. The Australian Red Cross allows you to donate plasma every 2-3 weeks. Which falls right in line with 1100 donations in 3128 weeks.
  
  Blood donations are limited to once every 12 weeks in Australia. The American Red Cross limits blood donations to every 8 weeks. Plasma (and platelet) donations to every 7 days, up to 24 times a year (once every 2.2 weeks).
2. Re:Nearly every week? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 19:05 · Score: 0
  
  "nearly every week" is not the same as more than twice in every month.
3. Re:Nearly every week? by Minupla · 2018-05-13 23:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Speaking as a father whose daughter survived because of this injection (not his exactly - we're on the other side of the world), but who cares really) I'd just like to publicly thank this man for his time and humanity. It's easy to poke fun at the statistics and such, but let's all take a moment to acknowledge that this gentleman took time out of his life EVERY WEEK FOR 60 YEARS to give something precious that improved lives for millions of people.
  Imagine you and your wife (or vice versa) are in your first trimester and she starts bleeding a bit. You rush to ER and they do blood work, and you realize to your horror that your blood is killing your child. And then the doctors say to your wife "sign here, we've made a vaccine that we're going to give you that should stop it". I literally sobbed.
  My daughter is playing on her computer behind me as I type this and can't see the tears in my eyes.
  Give the man a medal.
  Min
  
  --
  On the whole, I find that I prefer Slashdot posts to twitter ones because I don't get limited to 140 chars before
4. Re:Nearly every week? by CrimsonAvenger · 2018-05-13 23:53 · Score: 1
  
  The Australian Red Cross allows you to donate plasma every 2-3 weeks [donateblood.com.au]. Which falls right in line with 1100 donations in 3128 weeks.
  Quite so. That's right in line with him donating pretty much every chance he had to do so. Wonderful example for all of us, frankly.
  And if TFA had said that, my post wouldn't have used words like "idiots" to describe the people who wrote TFA....
  
  --
  
  "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
5. Re:Nearly every week? by cshamis · 2018-05-14 03:22 · Score: 1
  
  Well said.
6. Re:Nearly every week? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 03:28 · Score: 1
  
  Nearly the same situation here. The only reason I'm the father of 3 boys instead of only my oldest is because of some person like this willingly donating their time and biology to help people like us. Thank you to those people AND for the intelligent biologists, scientists, and doctors who figured all this stuff out to begin with. I'm very thankful for the day and age we live in, and I know my wife and sons are too.
  I fully support your idea to give this man a metal, maybe name a hospital after him too.
  Sincerly,
  Rh+ Husband to an Rh- Wife with 3 Rh+ boys (obviously all of our boys will be Rh+, no idea if my X side is Rh+ or Rh- though... no girls yet)
7. Re:Nearly every week? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 04:11 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks James, and Min !
8. Re:Nearly every week? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 05:23 · Score: 0
  
  I don't think anyone was poking fun at the facts, just the poor reporting of them. You can't donate blood every week and it wouldn't be healthy at all if you could. Everyone who donates blood or is involved with blood donation would know this.
9. Re:Nearly every week? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-15 00:34 · Score: 0
  
  I just donated plasma today, coincidentally (still have the bandage on my arm right now).
  I started with donating blood about 20 years ago, and after about 20 donations, switched to mostly plasma nowadays. Am allowed to donate plasma once a month, whereas whole blood is once every 3 months.
  Just did about 120 donations total so far. Fact I didn't donate more is, sometimes I travel (like as in this weekend am flying off for a few weeks) and after travelling you will have to wait about 3-4 months again before you can donate (depending on where you travel to).
  Am in Singapore.
informatIve tacotaco by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 12:34 · Score: -1

mechanics. 4 So I'm is not Prone to bought the farm... to get involved in SLING you can
Thanks mate! by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 12:38 · Score: 1

My wife required several Anti-D injections throughout her pregnancy, so thanks mate!
The Man With The Golden Arm - 1955 by No+Longer+an+AC · 2018-05-13 12:45 · Score: 1

Starring Frank Sinatra & Kim Novak

A strung-out junkie deals with a demoralizing drug addiction while his crippled wife and card sharks pull him down.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0...
block darwinism and weaken the gene pool... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 13:51 · Score: -1

Great, so all these people he saved are all susceptible to this disease. If survival of the fittest was allowed to happen the result would be a population stronger against this particular disease.
Just sayin...
1. Re: block darwinism and weaken the gene pool... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 15:18 · Score: 0
  
  Don't worry they still have to survive a Darwinian economic system that's soon going to force them to compete against robots.
2. Re:block darwinism and weaken the gene pool... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 18:27 · Score: 0
  
  Great, so all these people he saved are all susceptible to this disease.
  These people do not carry any disease. This is about the problems of incompatible blood types as between mating humans. In the US between 15-20 of people have Rh negative blood, how sure are you that you are not one of "these people?"
  If survival of the fittest was allowed to happen ...
  ... you might not be here proudly displaying your ignorance for all to see?
  Just sayin..
3. Re:block darwinism and weaken the gene pool... by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 20:17 · Score: 0
  
  In the US between 15-20 per cent of people have Rh negative blood,
4. Re:block darwinism and weaken the gene pool... by kaatochacha · 2018-05-14 05:18 · Score: 1
  
  People like to cite survival of the fittest until they're not the fittest . Then it's all "oh, but wait, my case is special!".
Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by schwit1 · 2018-05-13 15:33 · Score: 1

This is not just any other blood donor. This law makes no sense if he is saving lives and wants to give. The decision makers need to explain how they plan to justify this to the parents of the dead or brain damaged children.
I'm sure there are countries that would provide free room and board at a 5 star hotel just to get his blood.
1. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 16:14 · Score: 0
  
  While indeed a special donor, he's not the only anti-D donor. Australia has a pool of a couple of hundred anti-D donors, sufficient to just keep up with demand.
2. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 18:35 · Score: 0
  
  Because it's the law. We need more and more laws if we want to live in a civilized society and it is proven that the more a society is civilized, the more limits it imposes on the populace. People accept that - in highly civilized places like Europe for instance. Security, stability and conformity are the pillars of civilized living and they are immensely more important than delusions of "freedom". #morelaws #makemesafe #nodebate
3. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-13 20:52 · Score: 0
  
  Same reason Aussie laws stop you representing the country in parliament if you're not purely an Aussie citizen - because they make knee jerk laws that sound good, but are fucking stupid in practice.
  I mean, who the fuck thought that was a good idea in a relatively young immigrant nation?
  For the same reason they probably thought 81 year old's blood was too old or likely to kill them or something stupid only to find there are cases where it makes sense to continue. Australia has a lot to learn about law making, their parliamentarians aren't the sharpest favouring populism over rationality.
4. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by dwywit · 2018-05-13 21:11 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously? There has to be a line drawn somewhere. What's *your* opinion on when it should stop?
  He's already saved more lives than you ever could. There *are* other people with his blood type, you know.
  
  --
  They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
5. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Cederic · 2018-05-14 02:00 · Score: 1
  
  I mean, who the fuck thought that was a good idea in a relatively young immigrant nation?
  Me. I'd vote for that law in the UK too, even if it would mean at least one of my favourite politicians losing their seat.
6. Re: Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 04:28 · Score: 0
  
  Can we start with a law banning you from posting?
7. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 06:01 · Score: 0
  
  Seriously? There has to be a line drawn somewhere. What's *your* opinion on when it should stop?
  If the man is healthy and further blood donations do not represent a concern for his future health, why should there be an age limit at all?
8. Re:Why does Aussie law stop HIM at 81? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 15:57 · Score: 0
  
  because at his age blood donation brings a huge risk to his life, that's the reason there is the age cutoff, hell they've already extended his "career" past when the Red Cross usually stops allowing you to donate
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2018-05-13 16:35 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
You have it wrong. by Qbertino · 2018-05-13 20:19 · Score: 2

Survival of the fittest can also mean being able to develop a brain, a culture, a society and sciences where things like genetic differences have no larger impact.
Just wait for when we as a species are able to cheat natural death. If all goes well, that point in time isn't to far off.
Until that happens, think of this as australians society - which happens to have functional healthcare - winning out to the US which doesn't have this.
Darwin at work indeed.
You're welcome.

--
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
What a wonderful man. by Sqreater · 2018-05-13 22:26 · Score: 1

He's not the man with the "Golden Arm," but the man with the Golden Heart. The DNA of such a person should be saved, archived for study now or in the future. Actually, there should be a voluntary world DNA bank of extraordinary people for study.

--
E Proelio Veritas.
2.4 million babies saved? by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 02:31 · Score: 0

Yet how many millions did the Red Cross make, harvesting him like a farm animal?
Well deserved retirement. by Anonymous Coward · 2018-05-14 07:03 · Score: 1

He had to retire, he was feeling a little drained.