A Dereham dad, whose daughter went through three life-saving heart operations, has been short-listed in a national competition to find the UK's top men.

Kevin Mackay had no idea that his partner Lisa King had nominated him, one of 300 put forward, until he was told he had won a place in the top 10.

She felt that he deserved to win the MEGA Blokes competition run by toy company MEGA Bloks for being an 'amazing support' through the difficult time when their daughter Tiana was born and needed urgent surgery.

She said: 'Kevin is without a doubt my rock. He was even juggling a new job whilst spending as much time with the family as was possible. He has such a positive outlook and last year he did a solo parachute jump to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital who have done so much for us over the last few years. Kevin is a great dad and the most wonderful partner anyone could have.'

Mr Mackay said it was a 'pleasant surprise' and even if he did not win it was an honour to be in the top 10.

'The main thing is Tiana is doing really well and walking around now and having regular scans to make sure her new valve is working correctly,' he said.

'I am now working from home doing website design so I get even more time with her which makes up for some of the time she was in hospital.'

The competition is being run in association with parenting website www.madeformums.com and the winner, who will receive a three night holiday with Luxury Family Holidays, will be announced on the website on Wednesday.

Pete Fuller, marketing manager at MEGA Bloks said: 'All 300 dads, uncles, grandads, partners and brothers that were nominated in our competition showed extra special qualities and all of them could have been our MEGA Bloke so as you can imagine it was a very hard job trying to choose a top 10.'

Susie Boone, madeformums editor, added: 'We were delighted to help launch this initiative. Often husbands and partners are the unsung heroes - it's great to have an opportunity to celebrate their stories too.'

All the short-listed men have received a bundle of MEGA Bloks pre-school goodies for their families, a celebratory bottle of champagne and a MEGA Bloke Of the Year certificate.