World-leading cardiac surgeon Asif Hasan was surrounded by the children who received the gift of life thanks to his unerring skills at the emotional climax of another memorable Pride of Britain ceremony.
Now 70 years old, Mr Hasan has just retired after 35 years of service at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle upon Tyne. He received his Lifetime Achievement Award before an extra special surprise: a cast of patients who would not be alive without him.
Nineteen lives saved
Kiera Wylie, 16, Hope Walton, 18, Tyler Arnell, 17, Laura Mason, 43, Cameron Scott, 19, Zehra Gumus, 31, Gemma Harnwell, 26, Seb Hollingsworth, 17, Chloe Smith, 16, Daniel Stephenson, 18, Libby Ellen Tully, 18, Natalie Grant, 37, David Idowu, 19, Tommy Stringer, 17, Abigail Dixon, 30, Charlie Price, 13, Max Johnson, 18, Cecilia Adamou, 27, and Isabelle Amos, 10, all lined up on stage with their saviour.
It was a scene reminiscent of the great 'That's Life' show with the late Esther Rantzen which recognised the heroic actions of Sir Nicholas Winton who saved hundreds of children from the Nazis.
Organ donor law reform
Max and Cecilia both won Pride of Britain awards and were keen supporters of the 'Change the Law for Life' campaign which led to a new opt-out organ donor law being introduced in England and Wales in 2020, named after Max and his donor Keira Ball.
Mr Hasan has shared how he wept when reading Max and Keira's 'Story of a Heart' by best-selling author Dr Rachel Clarke. "For me the word courage is defined in the book," he said. "It is personified in Keira and her family. That touched me and stayed with me."
Mr Hasan, who has saved hundreds of lives in the UK, paid tribute to Keira's parents Joe and Loanna, of Barnstaple, Devon. Joe made the decision to donate his daughter's organs while Loanna was seriously ill after the car accident in which Keira died. Her organs saved four lives.
A lifetime of dedication
Mr Hasan spent his "holidays" in Pakistan with his wife Nancy where he guides surgeons from around the world while carrying out life-saving procedures on children there.
Former Mirror reporter Cecilia, who nominated him for the award with nurse Debbie Lawson, was 11 when she had her heart transplant thanks to Mr Hasan 16 years ago. She said: "It was a labour of love. It is one of the honours of my life to give him the recognition and appreciation he deserves."
"He has saved so many lives and taught other surgeons in organ transplantation. He deserves everything. There are very few words to describe a transplant op, it is hard if you have not been through it. My parents always speak about how calming he was; they watched me 'dying' in cardiac arrest, and he is exactly the man you want in those moments. He is so calm."
"We had nicknames for everyone: transplant nurse specialists Debbie and Terry Hewitt were Debbie Do and transplant Terry, Dr Richard Kirk was Captain Kirk and Asif was God. You feel like you are in the presence of God, and we are not a religious family."
"His purpose in life is to save children, and we are all children that he saved. We are in awe of him, he goes way above and beyond."
Max's parents Emma and Paul, of Winsford, Cheshire, recalled the moment during their son's transplant op when an artery was 'nicked'. It was spurting blood; Asif remained steadfast and calm. That dramatic moment was captured in the 2018 BBC documentary, 'Heart Transplant: A Chance to Live,' which filmed the ex vivo technology live in the UK for the first time.
Emma, 56, said: "He is the most incredible human being I have ever met. He trains other transplant surgeons in Pakistan on his annual leave. He implanted Max's left ventricular assisted device (LVAD) as well as transplanting his heart."
"He treated Keira's organ with such dignity and respect that it was almost as if he were talking to Keira. Max thanked him for saving his life. He insisted: 'No, Max, it was Keira's family who donated your heart'. He was always so kind and humble with Max."
Paul, 51, added: "It was an almost impossible task extricating Max's heart in that blanket of scar tissue, relying on his knowledge of anatomy. Almost inevitably there was the drama of the artery being nicked, but he personified leadership. He did not shout and did not panic - and he saved his life with calmness and skill; he just dealt with it."
"He is just a wonderful man. He is still around in the hospital, he will turn up in the operating theatre, reassuring people with his presence. He is revered by everyone he works with, they are so proud of him - the Pride of Britain could not be more apt."
Tributes from heart families
Seb Hollingsworth, who needed Asif's vital heart surgery as a child, paid tribute with his parents Ivan and Nadine, from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, who have raised more than £500,000 for the Children's Heart Unit Fund, the charity that supported them.
Nadine, who turned 50 on Sunday, said: "He was described to us as 'God' when we were with Seb as a baby. One of the nurses said, 'Don't worry, you have God'. We had a visitor and I was saying, 'We have the surgeon called God.' I turned around and Asif was there. He knows the staff call him that but it was still funny saying it with him behind us."
"With Nancy, his wife, his holidays involve going back to Pakistan and taking teams from all over there. He has about six hours to get to know a brand new team before carrying out two weeks of surgery, and that is his holiday. It is done on a voluntary basis and he did that for many years. He is a hero to Seb and to all of us, I know many other heart families feel the same way. Seb would not be here if it weren't for him, and you cannot get any higher praise than that."
"It is wonderful that he is being recognised in this way. It is impossible to measure the number of lives he has touched and changed."
Ivan, also 50, added: "He is a mentor to other surgeons and they bring specialists who use their own time to travel abroad to the countries where they are needed most. At his peak he was doing 150 procedures a year and I would not be surprised if he has done that for 25 years. He takes on the toughest cases when others won't."
"He is willing to tackle the hardest possible procedures. If it works, you are a hero. But he is so humble, he does this not for his own glory, he does it for the best possible reason - to save lives. I have become a friend; I often meet him for a coffee, but I was terrified that I would give the game away before he received his award."
"His leadership qualities extend beyond his surgical skills; he travels the world to visit the surgeons he has trained. He helps them settle in once they secure their jobs. I don't think you can measure the impact he has had on so many lives."
Pioneering techniques
Mr Hasan played a major role in co-leading Newcastle's 'bridge to transplant' programme, which resulted in the Berlin Heart, a mechanical blood pump serving as a vital 'bridge' to keep infants and children alive while they wait for a suitable organ donor.
He also pioneered a new post-surgical sternum closure technique, known as the 'bootlace closure' that allows children to receive donor hearts which would ordinarily be too large for them. Without this technique, these children would die.
He has a reputation for never refusing a patient, taking on the cases of the country's sickest children, even when the outcome looks bleak. Many were rejected by other cardiac centres as too high-risk, meaning Mr Hasan and his Freeman team were their last chance to survive.
Asif admitted: "There have been big highs and big lows. My heart swells when I hear about a survivor doing so well, but I do remember all the traumatic cases where someone died. I've seen human misery up close, but also human resilience and courage."
"I'm quite an ordinary person, but I had so many extraordinary colleagues with me who gave their lives to the patients. Not just consultants, but nurses, incredible, incredible people. I have also worked in one of the most extraordinary institutions in the world, which is the NHS. One of my abiding resolves was that when I stopped work, nobody would miss me. It's the art of becoming redundant. I wanted to train people so that they are not only competent, but better than me, and that's what I have achieved. That is my proudest achievement."
The 2026 Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with P&O Cruises airs on ITV and ITVX this Thursday at 8pm. To find out more about the event visit prideofbritain.com. Visit www.organdonation.nhs.uk.
