Imran Khan

A searingly quick fast bowler; an elegant, free-flowing batsman, and an inspirational leader who emerged from retirement to carry his country to World Cup glory. Few cricketers can have enjoyed such a successful a career as Pakistan's legendary Imran Khan. And yet, Imran's greatest victory of all occurred off the pitch, in Lahore, where he established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital.

In 1984, Imran's mother, Shaukat Khanum, was claimed by the disease after a painful few months, and at that moment, Imran realised that, for all the trappings of fame and fortune, one's existence was too precarious to be taken for granted. So he vowed to raise a sum of £5 million, with which to establish a hospital - in his mother's name - that would treat the poor of Pakistan for free.

It was not a project that he took lightly. The government of Pakistan donated 20 acres of land on the outskirts of Lahore, but having laid the foundations it was clear to Imran that his first estimation would cover only the initial phase. To keep up the running costs, he would have to commit himself to the project for the rest of his life.

And so, in December 1994, a decade of hard graft, tireless fundraising, and sweat and toil came to fruition, as the hospital was inaugurated and the first patients were admitted. To this day, Imran remains the single biggest contributor to the running costs, as the hospital is maintained entirely through charitable donations and without any assistance or aid from government organisations. Rarely can a son have given such a tribute to his mother.