James Harrison

James Christopher Harrison (27 December 1936 – 17 February 2025) was an Australian blood donor known as the "Man with the Golden Arm" for his prolific history of donations, 1,173 times between the ages 18 to 81.

Harrison primarily donated plasma after his blood was found to contain antibodies against the Rh D antigen, making them useful in preventing Rh disease, and was one of the founding donors for the New South Wales Rh Program.

Early life James Christopher Harrison was born in Junee, New South Wales, on 27 December 1936 to Peggy and Reginald Harrison.

In 1951, aged 14, he underwent major chest surgery that required the transfusion of a large amount of donated blood. Despite his fear of needles,

Blood 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 formation of antibodies against the blood of the Rh(D)-positive child. This antigen sensitization and subsequent incompatibility phenomenon causes Rh disease, the most common form of HDN.

Harrison was one of the founding donors of the New South Wales Rh Program, one of the first in the world, in 1969; he continuously donated from then onwards. Unlike whole blood, blood plasma can be donated as often as once every two weeks, allowing him to reach his 1,000th donation in May 2011. This had required an average of one donation every three weeks across 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."

Through their donations, the members of NSW's Rh Program have provided millions of doses of anti-D and helped prevent thousands of deaths and stillbirths, as well as many more instances of sickness and disability caused by HDN. Over his lifetime, Harrison's donations amounted to tens of thousands of doses worth of antibodies and had contributed to every batch of anti-D produced in NSW.

In 2007, Harrison was critical of plans to open up Australia's plasma donation to foreign corporations. He believed that opening up the trade will discourage volunteer donations. This opening of trade stemmed from a review of the country's free trade agreement with the US. In 2011, he was nominated in the New South Wales Local Hero division of the Australian of the Year awards.

Personal life and death Harrison was married to Barbara Lindbeck, a fellow blood donor from his hometown of Junee, from an unknown date until her death in 2005. They resided in Umina Beach, New South Wales,