A YORK father-of-three has faced his lifetime fear of deep water and dived with man-eating sharks.

Darren Walker, who works for Superbreak Mini-holidays at York, performed the terrifying deed to raise money for the hospital which saved his 12-year-old daughter's life.

Darren was dared to endure the 20-minute ordeal by his Superbreak colleagues, who pledged more than £650 for the Cranio Facial Research Fund at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford.

Superbreak then matched the staff's pledge bringing the total raised to more than £1,500.

Over the last 12 years the Cranio Facial Fund has supported life-saving surgery for Darren's daughter, Stephanie.

He said: "I took the plunge knowing that the money raised would go to a very worthy cause, without which my daughter, Stephanie, and many other children would not be alive today. Terrified as I was, this is my way of saying a big thank you to the staff at the Radcliffe Infirmary, who have treated my daughter."

The sharks which came face-to-face with Darren on his dive were at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Chester.

Updated: 08:11 Saturday, November 22, 2003