VOGUE VOICE

Affectionately dubbed ‘the man with the golden arm’, thanks to a rare antibody found in his blood that is vital for many pregnant women, 82-year-old James Harrison has dedicated his life to blood donation, and helped save the lives of over two million bab

In 1951, when I was 14 years old, I had to undergo an operation to have a lung removed and I received 13 units of donated blood. I said to my father, who was a blood donor in those days, that I felt an obligation to give back and that when I was 18 – the legal age to give blood – I would start donating. I gave my first donation two days after my 18th birthday and I donated a total of 1,175 times over the next 60-plus years. It’s a good feeling to know that at least I can do my part to give back to an unknown person who saved my life.

Back in 1967, after I had been donating whole blood for some years, doctors made the unlikely discovery that the plasma in my blood contained a special antibody that was used in anti-D medication for expectant mothers. I was called to the doctor’s office in Sydney and asked whether I would consider donating it regularly. I had to sign some paperwork in case anything went wrong, because it hadn’t been performed before, and with my wife’s blessing I started donating plasma every fortnight.

The anti-D plasma is life-changing for mothers who are having miscarriages due to the fact that they are an incompatible blood group with their unborn child [the mother is a negative blood group and the baby is a positive blood group]. Anti-D is needed from the first pregnancy for any woman with a negative blood type, but if for some reason she doesn’t receive it, the disease can still occur but is milder and less frequent in a first pregnancy. But, through the birth, the mother releases antibodies into her system that float around, and when she conceives her second child they float back into the new baby, which means it could be stillborn or born severely jaundiced. This is called haemolytic disease. And so doctors need to inject the mother within 72 hours of the first baby being born. Then, if the women goes on to have a second child, the antibodies would kill those nasties and she would progress through pregnancy to have a healthy child.

One lady who received the injections even ended up having 13 children – so I got the blame for that! She was very grateful, because she had had two miscarriages prior. There were a couple of ladies I spoke to who had seven children, but most had two or three. I never really know who the women and babies are who have received the blood, because of privacy laws. It’s only if someone comes up to me at a function and says: ‘I’ve got you to thank for my two lovely children’

that I get to meet the women and children I’ve helped. It makes me feel really chuffed to know I’ve been able to help people who want children.

My daughter even needed the anti-D medication when she was pregnant. They were running out of my blood and were going to import some anti-D, but I had a good liaison at the blood bank who put aside one pack for my daughter. Now she has a healthy 24-year-old son, my grandson, Scott. That inspires you; not that I ever thought of giving it up, because I always knew the benefits of my donations.

I don’t like needles and I can’t stand pain. I was given the nickname ‘the man with the golden arm’, because I’ve had 1,165 draws out of my right arm and 10 out of the left arm. I swear I don’t feel it in the right arm – perhaps it’s all in the mind, but I stuck with the right arm and my veins stuck with me and everything worked out well. Twenty-nine minutes was my fastest donation and an hour and five minutes was my slowest.

The Red Cross have said they might never have another donor with the dedication I’ve had to blood donation. That makes me a bit disappointed, because that means people aren’t donating as regularly as they should.

There was a train disaster in Granville, New South Wales, many years ago, and people came out of the woodwork and donated, which was fantastic, but it was only one time; they never came back. The blood bank needs regular donors: ordinary donors, donors with different types of things in their blood.

My message to anyone who has considered donating is to get to your nearest blood bank and donate. The blood you give could save your life or someone near and dear. It doesn’t hurt. An hour of your time could mean a lifetime for somebody else. One donation of whole blood saves three lives and when you swing over to being a plasma donor you can save 18 lives.

Last year, at age 81, the day came when I was told I was too old to continue donating. My last donation was very, very emotional. I turned up at Town Hall in Sydney and I guessed that they would have a small party and maybe a cake, but they had arranged for about a dozen mothers with their babies to join. They started talking to me and it bought tears to my eyes that this was going to be the last time I could be of benefit to any of them. They showed their appreciation, but it was a very sad day, no matter how big the cake was.

For more information on donating blood, go to www.donateblood.com.au.

“One donation of whole blood saves three lives and when you swing over to being a plasma donor you can save 18 lives”