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
THE MILLION DOLLAR CARAVAN
A luxury caravan with a price tag of ONE MILLION DOLLARS is due to hit the road later this year .
A POOL WITH A VIEW
The view from this rooftop pool is sure to make most holidaymakers envious .
NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS
FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .
BEAR AND FOX IN SHOWDOWN
This is the moment a nimble red fox and a lumbering Alaskan brown bear were locked in a tense stand-off .
SO ALLERGIC TO WATER I CAN'T EVEN KISS MY FIANCE
A woman with a rare allergy to water has told how the condition is so severe it prevents her from KISSING her fiance .
MENINGITIS TOT TAKES FIRST STEPS ON NEW LEGS
A little girl who lost all four limbs to meningitis has taken her first steps since the illness thanks to her new 'Princess legs' .
Korean Mass Games
These are the amazing close up pictures of North Korea's mass games - after photographers were previously banned from taking shots so close to the dazzling formation dances .
NINJA RED SQUIRREL
A NINJA red squirrel cuts a dashing figure as the little fella jumps up to ten-feet between treetops in the Yorkshire Dales .
DAUGHTER KILLED HERSELF AFTER BEING RAPED – BUT SAVED FOUR PEOPLES' LIVES THROUGH ORGAN DONATION
A woman whose daughter committed suicide after being raped as a child, has revealed she donated her organs - saving four peoples’ lives .
FRIENDS REUNITED
IT'S the iconic TV show that influenced a whole generation in the 1990s .
COUGAR: I FELL FOR MAN 18YRS MY JUNIOR BUT MY SONS DIDN'T COME TO OUR WEDDING
A woman has revealed how she left her husband of 24 years, after falling in love with a man, 18 years her junior .