The Man with the Golden Arm
Meet James Harrison, an 85 year old retired railway administrator from New South Wales, Australia who donated blood for six decades and saved 2.4 million babies.
In 1951, 14-year-old James underwent major chest surgery and received a transfusion of 13 units of blood. During his three month hospital stay, James’ father reminded him that he owed his life to the anonymous donors and although James was too young to give blood at the time, he vowed to become a donor. True to his word, two days after his 18th birthday James made his first blood donation and continued donating over the next decade, even though he hated needles.
Around the same time, thousands of Australian babies were dying each year from haemolytic disease of the newborn, or HDN, a condition caused by a blood incompatibility between the mother and foetus. Thanks to a breakthrough in the mid 1960s, doctors realised they could prevent HDN by injecting a pregnant woman with a rare antibody from donated plasma. When researchers scoured the blood banks only one name was a match: James Harrison.
A regular donor by this point, James didn’t hesitate when scientists reached out to him. His plasma was used to develop an injection called Anti-D and in 1967 the first dose was given to a pregnant woman. Over six decades James’ blood created millions of Anti-D injections and it’s estimated he saved 2.4 million babies across the country, including two of his grandchildren. Scientists aren’t entirely sure why James’ body produced the rare antibody, but they believe it’s because of the blood transfusions he received as a teenager.
James made his final trip to the donation centre in 2018, at 81 years old. He’d given 500-800ml of plasma almost weekly, with only 10 donations from his left arm and 1,162 from his right “golden arm.” Even at his last round, he averted his eyes when the needle was inserted into his arm. Although every ampul of Anti-D ever made in Australia has James in it, he doesn’t consider his contribution anything out of the ordinary.
"Some people say 'Oh, you're a hero.’ But I was in a safe room, donating blood. They gave me a cup of coffee and something to nibble on and then I just went on my way. No problem, no hardship."
