A DEVOTED dad is raising funds for the hospital which is treating his young daughter for a rare disorder.

Matthew Knight and his wife, Lucy, who live in Pickering, are supporting Sheffield Children's Hospital, where their one-year-old daughter, Lilly, is undergoing treatment for hemihypertrophy - a condition which means one side of the body grows more than other, causing asymmetry.

To start their fundraising, Matthew had his head and beard shaved, followed by a chest wax at an event a The Sun Inn in Pickering last week.

Matthew said: "When Lilly was six months old I noticed that her right foot was larger than her left so I spoke to our health visitor who told us to make a doctor's appointment.

"They then referred us to Scarborough, who in turn referred us to Sheffield Children's Hospital. It was there that Lilly was diagnosed with hemihypertrophy."

Matthew said there are different versions which have varying effects so Lilly was required to have ultrasounds and genetic testing to see if she was at risk of tumours.

"Fortunately, the tests came back negative so all we have to deal with is the growth difference," he said.

"She'll be a patient of Sheffield Children's Hospital throughout her childhood and her treatment will eventually lead to one of three options depending on the predicted final leg length difference. This will be preventing the larger leg growing, lengthening the shorter leg or a combination of the two.

"This won't happen until she is a lot older and will allow doctors to more accurately predict final growth levels."

Matthew said Lilly was not held back by her condition.

"She is a smart and beautiful toddler with a strong personality and won't let anything stop her from doing anything she wants," he said.

"Lilly absolutely adores her two younger cousins Jacob Marshall and Toby Dawson who are both approaching one.

"It is fortunate that she is still at the age where she doesn't know anything is different and we will have to overcome any issues with her hemihypertrophy as they arise."

Matthew said he had so far raised more than £1,100 for The Children's Hospital Charity in Sheffield.

"I'd like to thank everyone who kindly donated a raffle prize, including, but not limited to, El Gringo's, Feast, The New Inn, JSC Collectibles, Steam and Moorland Centre, and Trailblazer Outdoors," he said.

"A massive thank you to Sharon Tomlinson of Something for the Weekend, Sir? for taking the time to come down to shave my head and last but not least to Sharon and Rob Allanson of The Sun Inn for letting us take over for a few hours."

Matthew added: "I will be leaving the VirginMoneyGiving page open until the end of October. It is Lilly's second birthday on September 11 and we would like to ask if everyone could spare £2 then it will make a massive difference to the charity."

Anyone who would like to make a donation should go to uk.virginmoneygiving.vom/shavemattsbeard