A Retired Newcastle Heart Surgeon Is Honored, and 19 of the Children He Saved Walk Onstage to Thank Him

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England - For more than three decades, the families who brought their sickest children to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle placed them in the hands of Asif Hasan, a cardiothoracic surgeon who performed more than 4,000 open-heart operations there, about 3,000 of them as lead surgeon. This month, at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards in London, some of those children returned the favor: after Mr. Hasan received the event's Lifetime Achievement Award, 19 of his former patients, now aged 10 to 43, walked onto the stage to stand beside him, according to The Mirror and The Chronicle of Newcastle.

Mr. Hasan, who retired from the Freeman earlier this year, was appointed a consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at the hospital in 1995 and went on to lead its paediatric transplant programme, which became one of the largest and most respected services of its kind in the world, according to Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The trust said his work in paediatric heart transplantation and mechanical heart support devices allowed more children than ever before to survive while waiting for a donor heart. The Chronicle reported that he is estimated to have performed around 400 transplants.

The surprise came after the award was presented. Mr. Hasan, who The Mirror reported is 70, broke down on stage, clutching a large handkerchief. "I've no words now," he said, according to the newspaper. "You heard so many testimonies of real people, and I was just doing my job."

Among those on stage was Seb Hollingsworth, now 17, of Whitley Bay, who was diagnosed shortly after his birth in 2009 with tetralogy of Fallot, a serious congenital heart defect. He underwent open-heart surgery under Mr. Hasan's care at four months old, the trust said, and when he needed a second open-heart operation at 13, Mr. Hasan guided him through that one, too.

"Those early months were incredibly frightening, but Asif always had such a calm and reassuring presence," his mother, Nadine Hollingsworth, said in the trust's announcement. Of the second operation, she said: "Asif treated him like a young adult. He took the time to explain everything honestly, answered all his questions and involved him in conversations about his care. He was incredibly kind and generous with his time."

The Hollingsworth family has since raised more than 500,000 pounds for the Children's Heart Unit Fund at the Freeman, the charity that supported them, according to The Chronicle. At the ceremony, Seb delivered his own message of thanks to the surgeon. "Those 19 Heart Heroes represent thousands upon thousands more whose lives have been transformed, directly or indirectly, through his skill, leadership, care and extraordinary commitment," his father, Ivan Hollingsworth, told The Chronicle afterward.

Also on stage were two earlier Pride of Britain winners whose lives Mr. Hasan's care touched, Cecilia Adamou and Max Johnson. Ms. Adamou, a former Mirror reporter who received a heart transplant from Mr. Hasan at 11, nominated him for the award with the nurse Debbie Lawson, The Mirror reported. "It is one of the honours of my life to give him the recognition and appreciation he deserves," she said. "His purpose in life is to save children, and we are all children that he saved."

Mr. Johnson's parents, Emma and Paul, recalled to The Mirror that Mr. Hasan both implanted their son's ventricular assist device and later transplanted his heart. When Max thanked him for saving his life, Ms. Johnson said, the surgeon redirected the gratitude to the family of his donor, Keira Ball: "No, Max, it was Keira's family who donated your heart."

Several families told The Mirror that Mr. Hasan spent his annual holidays in Pakistan with his wife, Nancy, operating on children and training local surgeons on a voluntary basis. The trust said he also trained a generation of surgeons now working as consultants around the world.

In remarks released by the trust, Mr. Hasan said he was "deeply honoured and humbled" by the award. "Any success I have achieved has only been possible because of the incredible teams I have worked alongside at the Freeman Hospital over many years," he said. "Seeing children go on to live full and happy lives has always been the greatest reward."

He told The Mirror that training his successors was what he valued most. "One of my abiding resolves was that when I stopped work, nobody would miss me," he said. "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."

Sir James Mackey, chief executive of the NHS in England, called him "a truly remarkable individual," and Rob Harrison, acting chief executive of Newcastle Hospitals, described the award as "a fitting recognition of an extraordinary career and an exceptional individual." The ceremony was broadcast on ITV1 and ITVX on Thursday, Oct. 22.

Sources: Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oct. 19, 2026: https://www.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/news/pride-of-britain-honour-for-surgeon-who-transformed-thousands-of-young-lives/ ; The Mirror, reporting by Jeremy Armstrong, Oct. 20, 2026: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/asif-hasan-pride-of-britain-37784608 ; ChronicleLive, Helen Dalby, Oct. 21, 2026: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/thank-you-mr-hasan-19-34795385