CANCER DRUG FIGHT DAD DIES, EVEN AFTER LYING TO GET TREATMENT
A former soldier who bravely took on penny-pinching NHS bosses in his fight against terminal cancer has died, aged 37. Mark Bannister's wife has revealed how her husband was forced to LIE to doctors in order to get the life-prolonging treatment he had been denied due to a cruel postcode lottery. But after wasting six months of precious time trying to obtain the drug Avastin, Mark's cancer was too advanced for the medicine to have any effect. The dad-of-two succumbed to the brain tumour he had been battling for nine years at around 6am on Monday morning, with his wife Karen, 33, at his side. In tribute to her husband, who served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia during nine years in the army, grieving Karen said: "The Avastin didn't have any effect but we had to fight for six months in order to get it. "In all that time his tumour had been growing. In the end, he had to claim that he was living at another address in order to get the treatment. Who knows what would have happened if he had got the drug sooner - I truly believe it would have helped him.
Other great stories
WOMAN NEARLY DIED AFTER INFECTED ECZEMA WOUND LED TO DEADLY FLESH-EATING BUG THAT ATE A HOLE IN HER ARM
A woman was left fighting for her life after an eczema wound became infected and caused a deadly flesh-eating bug to ravish a hole in her arm .
AMAZING JOHNNY DEPP LOOKALIKE MISTAKEN FOR REAL DEAL
Whenever 46-year-old Melo Masi steps out of his front door in Berkshire, he risks being mobbed by strangers desperate for a selfie - all because of his incredible likeness to Hollywood megastar, Johnny Depp .
I FLED TO AUSTRALIA AFTER HOUSE TORCHED BY ONE-NIGHT
A woman has told how she fled to Australia, after a one night stand burned down her house .
EMPTY LONDON UNDERGROUND
USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .
IDYLLIC ICELAND
With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .
MOODY GORILLA
SAT with his arms folded and a cross look on his face, this Gorilla looks like he's had enough of the Christmas holidays already .
LAZY LIZARDS RELAX AND POSE LIKE YODA
With one hand rested on his belly and the other propping his head up, this lazy lizard takes an afternoon break .
POLAR BEAR STRETCHES
Raising his arms above his head and lying flat on his back, a polar bear stretches as he sprawls out across the ice .
PARTNERS IN GRIME
MASKED intruders look sinister but really they are a gang of urban exploring pranksters .
CUTE MINI LION
MEET the little lion of suburbia with a mane that makes him look like a mini-king of the jungle .
ET PHONE THIS NUMBER: UK'S FIRST HOTLINE FOR ALIEN ABDUCTEES
The UK's first hotline - and possibly the galaxy's - for people who have been targeted by aliens has opened to the public .
ANGRY GIRAFFE DESTROYS BIKE
AN ANGRY giraffe gave a bush-riding cyclist a scare when he stomped his £2K bike into the dirt .