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
250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .
WOMAN SHEDS 15ST AFTER BEATING CHEESE ADDICTION
A woman has lost a massive 15st after beating her addiction to cheese .
SUPER CUTE BABY RED PANDAS
These adorable pictures show the moment two cuddly red panda cubs take their first look at the outside world and are weighed for the very first time .
ABANDONED FARM HOUSE LEFT TO ROT
With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .
BRANDED BY VICIOUS BOYFRIEND'S SOVEREIGN RING
A deranged dad beat his girlfriend so savagely in a vicious 30 minute attack that the indent of his sovereign ring was left on her face .
DANCER REFUSES BIRTHMARK REMOVAL TO KEEP HER INDIVIDUALITY
A professional dancer has embraced her individuality after refusing plastic surgery to remove a giant birthmark on her face .
CLOWNFISH OPENS WIDE TO REVEAL A CREEPY INTRUDER
A little clownfish opens its mouth to reveal a blood sucking intruder living on its tongue .
ADORABLE OWL EMBRACES THE 'RUNNING MAN' CHALLENGE
SKIPPING on the spot, an adorable little owl embraces the 'running man' challenge .
DAUGHTER’S FACEBOOK PLEA FOR STRANGERS TO SAVE DYING MUM
A loving daughter has set up a Facebook page in a desperate plea to strangers, to donate a kidney to her dying mum .
MONKEY LOVE
PUCKERING up and enjoying some quality time, these are the most lovable monkeys on the planet .
KRYPONITE BEACH
LUMINOUS green rocks could easily be a beach from Superman's homeland of Krypton .
FIVE-WEEK-OLD NEWBORN IS UK’S YOUNGEST BEAUTY PAGEANT BABY
A five-week-old newborn from Fife has become the UK’s youngest beauty pageant baby .