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
LETHAL BIRTHMARK NEARLY SUFFOCATES GIRL
HOTSPOT MEDIA - LETHAL BIRTHMARK NEARLY SUFFOCATES GIRL: Zoe Mitchell when she was two-weeks-old .
WOMAN REVEALS HORRIFIC INJURIES AFTER JEALOUS EX BASHED HER SKULL WITH A BRICK AFTER FOLLOWING HER HOME- HE WAS CAUGHT ON RING DOORBELL CAM, COVERED IN HER BLOOD
A woman has released pictures of the horrific injuries she suffered when her jealous ex attacked her with a brick .
STRANDED POLAR BEAR
Sitting all alone on drift ice in the Arctic Ocean, this lonely little fella looks lost .
PHANTOM PREGNANCY NEARLY STOLE MY BABY DREAM
A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child .
ICELAND'S 360 DEGREE VIEW WATERFALL
THESE BREATH-TAKING photographs show the natural beauty of Iceland's most famous waterfall .
INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF AFRICAN TRIBES
A German photographer travelled around Africa where he met and photographed members of tribes in a series of intimate portraits .
CHERYL LOOKALIKE SLAMS SKINNY-SHAMING PUBLIC
A Cheryl Fernandez-Versini lookalike has slammed skinny-shamers, after seeing her celebrity doppelganger abused for her tiny frame .
POLYAMOROUS TRIO: I SHARE A HOUSE WITH MY TWO BOYFRIENDS AND OUR CHILDREN
Sunny Saap, 27, from Columbia, Missouri, United States, enjoys life with her two boyfriends .
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE BUG KIND
THIS alien-like bug would look more at home in outer-space but it can actually be found wriggling around here on Earth .
CHRISTMAS SNOWMAN ATTRACTS CURIOUS SQUIRREL
Peering curiously into a basket hanging off the arms of a snowman, this little squirrel appears fascinated by the snowy figure .
HUNGRY HIPPO MISSES OUT ON LUNCH
A hungry hippo is seconds away from catching a bird in its gigantic jaws .