Stories written through life: James Harrison (87) from Australia has made 1173 blood plasma donations in over 60 years. “The man with the golden arm” has saved the lives of thousands of babies and 2.4 million children have been treated with his plasma. Even though he doesn’t like needles. “Not once” he watched the stabbing. But he always thought, “The life you save can be yours and the hour of your time you sacrifice can mean a whole life for another!”
Harrison was born in 1936. At the age of 14, he needed a large amount of blood as part of breast surgery because he needed surgery. As a “thank you” he decided to become a helper himself from the age of 18 – the minimum age at the time.
And he kept his word. In 1954 he started donating. In 1966, his blood was discovered to contain unusually strong and persistent antibodies to Rhesus group D antigen. Blood with high levels of anti-D antibodies can be processed into immunoglobulin-based products used to prevent hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN).
1163 donations were taken from his right arm, only ten from the other. This is how he got his nickname “The man with the golden arm”. His donations provided tens of thousands of doses of Anti-D, which in turn helped prevent thousands of deaths and stillbirths, as well as many other cases of illness and disability. In all, Harrison has made the lives of approximately 2.4 million babies easier and even saved thousands of lives.
“The life you save can be yours”
Harrison continuously donated blood plasma. He set aside 40 minutes approximately every three weeks. Until he was no longer allowed to donate because of his age. He used to think, “The life you save can be your own and the hour of your time you sacrifice can mean a whole life for someone else.” The humble Australian says of his record, “It is the only record I hope will be broken.”
Harrison was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) on 7 June 1999.
Source: Krone
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