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.
A SPECTRUM of colours fills the sky during this spectacular and natural display of light .
Pouncing down on top of his twin brother, these two snow leopard cubs practice their kung-fu moves .
A mum-of-two has worn the same t-shirt for an entire year to raise awareness of a 1 in 7 million condition that prevents her daughter from talking .
A mother-of-four has revealed how, like the Beckhams, she’s added an outside toilet to her home .
WELCOME to the pretty 122-inch-tall red dwelling that lays claim to the title of the UK's smallest house .
Here's a APPY solution that should brighten up a wet weekend away camping - a wood powered stove that also recharges your smartphone .
An American woman whose skin turned silver after using nose drops is warning people of the dangers of medicines containing the metal .
WELCOME to what could be the world's tallest TOTALLY wooden construction .
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
HIDING behind its flipper, this little seal comes over a little camera shy .
WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .