The family of popular businessman Amjad Shah who died last week say his death has ‘shaken them to the core’.

Father-of-two Mr Shah was injured in a crash near Coventry in January and had made a miraculous recovery in the weeks following the incident despite staying in hospital for more than two months.

He tragically died aged 44 on July 27 only days before the Eid festival which took place on Friday.

A family tribute said: “He was the manifestation and embodiment of our parent’s values and principles. He ensured others needs were always put before his and traversed the path of life by carrying out selfless acts of kindness and generosity within the family and community.

“His magnetic personality and infectious smile gave birth to everlasting love in the hearts of so many.”

Amjad Shah spent his first year of life in Scotland and came to Blackburn in 1981 when he was five, where his father Nabi Shah established the Shah Silk Store on Audley Range. He attended Audley Juniors School and then went on to Everton School and Pleckgate High School.

He set up a outreach care service in 2001 with dealt with people with learning disabilities, establishing Lincoln House. Lincoln House closed in 2008 and he started working as a mental health nurse but in recent years he set up a Transsecure North West Limited, a private ambulance service.

It was whilst transporting a client he was involved in an accident. He lost eight pints of blood at the scene and severed his brachial artery and brachial plexus nerve.

The family said that his unselfish attitude to life was evident when he asked if his patient was ‘okay’ at the scene whilst being attended to.

He was in an induced coma for three days thanks to the amazing staff who managed to save his left arm. Others travelling in the ambulance were not injured.

After several operations and skin grafts he returned home on April with life-changing injuries. In spite all of this when he came out of hospital he put his focus on his business.

He had a lot of initiatives at Lincoln House and helped them to source a range of rehabilitations schemes. His family say he helped secure a lot of futures for those who left Lincoln House and went on to become young adults, which will be one his defining achievements.

The family said: “He really was a ‘gentle giant’ who in spite of his towering build and larger than life character was a soft, kind-hearted soul. He would always go above and beyond his call of duty professionally and personally and this echoed across the community.

“His faith was an integral part to the way he lived his life and he had a strong belief in what is right and wrong and stood by those values.

“His death has shaken us to our core however we know Amjad was a beautiful gift to us given by the Almighty and has now returned to be reunited with our Father in the gardens of heaven. He was the true embodiment of the following quote by Hazrat Ali Ibn Abi Talib. 'Live among people in such a manner that if you die, they weep over you and if you are alive, they crave your company'."