This year’s Man of the Year award was received by a surgeon who performs surgery on victims of acid attacks free of charge.

Dr Asim Shahmalak has already spent £50,000 of his own money and took a team from Crown Clinic, the hair transplant clinic he runs near Manchester Airport for the mercy mission and performed eyelash, eyebrow and hair transplants on seven women.

Some had been victims of acid attacks whilst others had been involved in horrific accidents. Dr Shahmalak, who also has consulting rooms in London's Harley Street, went back to Pakistan to review the women's cases.

It takes several months for hair transplants to take hold, but the women's new brows, lashes and hair have grown back fully in most cases.

Having identified five new cases, he will be returning to Pakistan later this year with a team from Crown Clinic for a second mercy mission which he will also fund.

Dr Shahmalak had investigated the availability of sulphuric acid while he was in Karachi and found it could be bought for as little as 15p a bottle.

Having realised that the Pakistani government would not help the victims of acid attacks, he took it upon himself to help rebuild the lives of the victims.

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Dr Shahmalak said: "It was an honour to receive the Man of the Year award but the real heroes are the women who have survived these horrific attacks.

"I wept when I first heard what had happened to them.

"Their stories were heart breaking - scarred for life because you want to better yourself and work as an air hostess.

"Doused with acid because you turned down a man's proposal - people were better treated in the Middle Ages.

“It was incredibly moving to see the smiles on their faces after we performed the surgery. They had given up hope of ever getting help because the Government in Pakistan cannot afford to do anything for them. We were their last hope.

“They are not accepted by society because of their disfigurement. They cannot get jobs and, in some case, they have been disowned by their families and left to beg on the streets.

"There is still lots more work to do. These attacks are continuing and I plan to go back to Karachi to help more victims in the future."

Video Interview by Neetal Parekh