'Pride of Britain Awards winners are reminder of goodness in UK when anger and division dominate'

'Pride of Britain Awards winners are reminder of goodness in UK when anger and division dominate' The Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises celebrate the courage, kindness and humanity that shine through even life's darkest moments - it is a priviliege to tell the winners' stories There are parents who once feared they would never hold their children again. Who lay awake through the darkest nights, desperately hoping they would live to see another birthday, another Christmas, another day. Tonight, 19 of those children, many now grown, stood together at the Mirror's Pride of Britain Awards, alive thanks to the extraordinary skill of cardiac surgeon Asif Hasan. Every face represented a life that might have been lost, a family spared unbearable grief and precious years that could so easily have been stolen. As they gathered around their hero, the sheer weight of what this remarkable man had achieved was extraordinary. It was a moment that captured the very soul of our awards. Now 70, Mr Hasan has retired from Newcastle's Freeman Hospital after 35 years of saving desperately ill children. Even his holidays were spent operating on youngsters and training surgeons in Pakistan. His patients call him “God”. Yet this gentle, humble man insists he is ordinary. He credits his colleagues, the nurses and the NHS, and says his proudest achievement is training surgeons now better than himself. He embodies everything our health service stands for. His story is also a powerful reminder of the gift of organ donation, including the selflessness of Keira Ball's family, whose decision amid unimaginable grief saved four lives. And there were numerous other remarkable stories that brought tears, smiles and immense pride. Pride of Britain Awards winners inspire us to be better Five-year-old Gregor Corse, who fought so hard to learn to walk, raised £80,000 for charity through sheer determination. Kirsty Waugh, 12, battling a brain tumour, turned her own suffering into hope for others, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds. And brave Zac Howells, also 12, saved his mother's life when she collapsed at the wheel. For the Mirror, the awards celebrate the courage, kindness and humanity that shine through even life's darkest moments. When anger and division dominate so many headlines, our winners remind us how much goodness exists in this country. Their stories move us, humble us and inspire us to be better. It is our privilege to tell them, and Britain's honour to celebrate them.