A dad attempted to break a world record to raise money for the hospital that helped save his daughter’s life.

Clint Holman, from Iwade, ran the London Landmarks Half Marathon dressed as a tree for Evelina London Children’s Charity.

The 35-year-old kept his six-month-old daughter, Alana, front of mind throughout the 13.1 mile route.

His baby appeared to be healthy at birth, however Clint and his wife, Kerry, realised something wasn’t right when she was just nine days old.

Alana wasn’t feeding, her skin was mottled and she was quite unresponsive.

Her condition deteriorated as the day went on, so they took her to Medway A&E.

It was decided that she should be sent to Evelina London – a specialist NHS children's hospital – where she was ventilated and put on several different types of medication while doctors carried out various tests.

“We found out later that things were touch and go for the first couple of days," Clint explained.

"Had we waited longer to take Alana to A&E, or if staff hadn't responded the way they did, things could have been different.

“At one point she had eight syringe banks at once, with everything being monitored closely. It was quite scary.”

It took some time to determine that Alana had a virus which gave her meningitis, as her symptoms were not presenting as typically expected.

She was also diagnosed with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle which reduces the ability to pump blood.

Her seizures weren’t spotted until she had one while having an electrocardiogram (ECG) scan, as it looked like she was stretching.

After two weeks, Alana was well enough to be discharged and go home to her parents and four-year-old brother Caleb.

The dad-of-two said: “It’s been a difficult few months but Alana’s doing a lot better and her follow up MRIs show good progress.

"She’s having physio every week to make sure she’s reaching her milestones, and thanks to the team at Evelina, hopefully she is now on the road to recovery.”

Clint's world record attempt on Sunday aimed to raise money for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

He has already smashed his £700 target on JustGiving, achieving more than £1,000 for the charity.

If you would like to donate click here.

Although Clint has taken part in the half marathon before, it was the first time he had the additional challenge of a costume.

Creating his outfit took many evenings to make and paid homage to the "Forest Ward", where Alana stayed during her time in hospital.

Clint needed to complete the race in under two hours to break the record, but sadly finished 34 minutes over.

He added: “It went very well, despite the suit collapsing on me!

"A huge thank you to everyone who donated – friends, family and strangers. A massive thank you to the crowd on the day too.

"The atmosphere was absolutely amazing and was a big contributing factor to getting me to the finish line.”

Dr Sara Hanna, interim chief executive of Evelina London, said: “Alana was in a critical condition when she was brought to intensive care.

"After a difficult few days, we were able to identify what treatment was needed and she responded well, making an incredible recovery.

"We hope that she continues to go from strength to strength.

“We feel very grateful and fortunate that many people decide to take on incredible fundraising challenges to support our work."