James Harrison

James Christopher Harrison (born 27 December 1936), also known as the Man with the Golden Arm, is a blood plasma donor from Australia whose plasma contains antibodies against RhD which are used in making a treatment for Rhesus disease. One of the founding donors of New South Wales' (NSW) Rh Program he regularly donated until, on 11 May 2018, he made his 1,173rd donationhis last, as Australian policy prohibits blood donations from those past age 81. Early life James Harrison was born on 27 December 1936. In 1951, at the age of 14, he underwent major chest surgery, requiring a large amount of blood. Realizing that the blood had saved his life, he made a pledge to start donating blood himself as soon as he turned 18, the then-required age. Blood plasma donations Harrison started donating in 1954. After the first few donations, it was discovered that his blood contained unusually strong and persistent antibodies against the D Rh group antigen. Blood which contains a high level of anti-D antibodies can be processed to create immunoglobulin-based products used to prevent haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). These products are given to Rh(D) negative mothers of unknown or Rh(D) positive babies during and after pregnancy to prevent the creation of antibodies to the blood of the Rh(D) positive child. This antigen sensitization and subsequent incompatibility phenomenon causes Rhesus disease, the most common form of HDN. Harrison was one of the founding donors in NSW's Rh Program, one of the first in the world in 1969, and he continuously donated from then onwards. As blood plasma, in contrast to blood, can be donated as often as once every two weeks, he was able to reach his 1,000th donation in May 2011. This resulted in an average of one donation every three weeks during 57 years. Commenting on his record, he said: "I could say it's the only record that I hope is broken, because if they do, they have donated a thousand donations". On 11 May 2018, he made his 1,173rd and last donation in compliance with Australian policy prohibiting blood donations from those past age 81.