The Newcastle surgeon, who performed around 400 transplants over his career, was joined on stage by children whose hearts he helped save.
The Pakistani-origin children’s heart surgeon received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Pride of Britain Awards, run by the Daily Mirror. The ceremony, hosted by Carol Vorderman and Ashley Banjo, was broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX on October 22.
The judges described Hasan as “the epitome of an unsung hero.” Winners were chosen from a shortlist drawn from tens of thousands of public nominations.
In one of the evening’s most emotional moments, 19 young “Heart Heroes,” former patients whose lives he helped save, joined him on stage after the award was presented.
Asif Hasan’s Career at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital
Hasan joined the Freeman Hospital in 1991 as a transplant surgeon and never left. He went on to lead the hospital’s Paediatric Cardiac Surgery service for 30 years before stepping down this year.
Over his career, he estimates he performed around 400 heart transplants. He specialized in surgery for children born with heart conditions, as well as heart transplants for both children and adults.
During that time, Newcastle grew into Europe’s largest center for transplants related to congenital heart disease, according to Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Colleagues say he was known for taking on the sickest children, even when the chances of success looked slim. He also trained a generation of children’s heart surgeons, both in the UK and abroad, and has spoken about his work helping to set up heart surgery units in other countries, including efforts to improve care in Pakistan.
Hasan has always been modest about his work, describing it as “just doing my job.”
“I’m quite an ordinary person, but I had so many extraordinary colleagues with me,” he said. Speaking about the surgeons he trained, he added, “It’s the art of becoming redundant. That is my proudest achievement.”
Reflecting on the ups and downs of his career, he said, “There have been big highs and big lows. My heart swells when I hear about a survivor doing so well.”
The Pride of Britain Awards have been held every year since 1999 to honor people across the UK for acts of courage, kindness and service.
