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
ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
POLAR BEAR PLAY
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
ROYAL FAIL: POSTIE’S CAT FACES EVICTION DUE TO HEALTH & SAFETY RULES
The Royal Mail moggy, who is now facing eviction from the premises – MEET the Royal Mail moggy facing eviction from the sorting room by an ‘elf n’ safety diktat .
HOUSEWORK-OUT
STEPFORD wives from the 1950's and 60's are performing history's most sexist exercise programme .
AMAZING LIGHTNING PHOTOGRAPHY
STRIKING photos capture nature at its most raw and powerful during Earth’s most electrifying event .
AVATAR-STYLE WISTERIAS WILL LEAVE YOU FEELING TREE-UMPHANT
A TEN-THOUSAND square foot wide Avatar-style grove is such a beauty it will leave you feeling VINE .
WOMAN LOSES 10ST AND DITCHES HUSBAND AFTER 'FAT COW' JIBE
A former size 30 comfort-eater ditched her husband and lost over 10st after he called her a 'fat cow' .
STUNNING CONTRAST OF ENGLISH SETTINGS
CONTRASTING settings reveal some of England’s most beautiful landscapes in all their glory .
HMS ARK ROYAL ARRIVES AT SHIP GRAVEYARD- LANGUISHING
HMS Ark Royal arrives in the Turkish port of Aliaga at the ship scrapping firm Leyal’s yard .
AERIALS OF FLOODING ON SOMERSET LEVELS
Sam Notaro built his own flood defences to protect his four-bedroom home in Moorland, Somerset Flooding is likely to get worse around Somerset as groundwater levels continue to rise .
ABANDONED TEXTILE MILL
HUNDREDS of colour coordinated yarns lie abandoned in this once thriving textile mill .
STUNNING ENGLISH COASTAL LANDSCAPES
WITH STUNNING colours and serene scenes, these photographs capture the otherworldly beauty of the English coast .