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
BABY GIVEN THREE PER CENT CHANCE OF LIFE COMES HOME FOR FIRST TIME
A baby who was given just a three per cent chance of survival at birth has beaten the odds to come home - even though docs told his parents to abort him 12 times .
BEAUTIFUL HUMMINGBIRDS SHOW OFF THEIR COLOURS
From vibrant blues to dazzling oranges, these eye catching hummingbirds proudly show off their impressive colours .
HUNGRY WHITE-TAILED KITE
SOARING through the air, a hungry white-tailed kite prepares to snatch a vole from his mother’s claws .
MY ANOREXIC CAT CURED MY ANOREXIA
A young woman who once weighed the same as 12-year-old girl has told how a severely malnourished cat helped save her life and beat her anorexia .
ASTOUNDING ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES TAKEN IN GARDEN
AN ARRAY of colours, from pinks to blues and oranges, fill the night sky to create an amazing collection of interstellar patterns .
TINY CHRISTMAS ANGEL, SIX, IS SIZE OF TWO YEAR OLD
Pint- size Maci Winters only has one wish this Christmas - to be as tall as the other boys and girls on the school playground .
HEART DRUGS MADE ME LOSE MY EMOTIONS - FOR 12 YEARS
A grandmother has told how she has been unable to feel emotion for the last 12 years thanks to heart drugs she had to take in order to survive .
FIREFLIES ILLUMINATE AN ENCHANTING FOREST IN TAIWAN
Like a scene from a fairytale, THOUSANDS of fireflies create an enchanting glow as they dance in a forest .
ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
HOUSEWORK-OUT
STEPFORD wives from the 1950's and 60's are performing history's most sexist exercise programme .
OWNER PREVENTED FROM FINDING CAT UNDER DATA PROTECTION ACT
A mother has spoken of her outrage after discovering her missing cat had been stolen - only to be told she cannot have its location due to the Data Protection Act .
MONKEY BUSINESS
GETTING behind the camera, this monkey practices his photography skills on his friends .