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
BACK TO BASICS HOTEL
CAMPED out in the middle of a forest, these unusual hut hotels take you back to basics .
FACES OF ORPHAN VICTIMS OF AGENT ORANGE
These are the faces of orphans suffering from the horrifying effects of chemical warfare .
THIRSTY SQUIRREL TAKES A BREAK
DIPPING his head into the vase of water, this little squirrel takes a refreshing break from an afternoon of eating .
BETRAYED BY CANCER CON WOMAN!
Recovering from a rare form of breast cancer, Deborah Barnett, 43, of Stoke-on-Trent, thought she'd made it through the worst, but she was betrayed by former colleague Sandra Ramsay, of Mow Cop Road, Mow Cop, Stoke-on-Trent .
MAN AND NATURE
LEAF-ing much to the imagination, this camera trickery is blooming marvellous .
LIVING ON WATER: REFUGEES BUILD A LIFE AT SEA
SAILING over crystal clear waters, the Bajau people of Malaysia live their lives almost entirely at SEA .
ADORABLE DOLPHINS VISIT AUSTRALIAN BEACH FOR BREAKFAST
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
WIFE CELEBRATES MARRIAGE BY SNOWBOARDING IN WEDDING DRESS
SNOWBOARDING in your £2,000 wedding dress sounds like a nightmare for most brides .
BABY ELEPHANT HAS FUN IN THE SUN
SPLASHING around in a paddling pool, this little elephant soaks up the sunshine .
GIRL GROWS BACK FACE AFTER ONE IN MILLION ALLERGIC REACTION
A teenage girl has grown back her entire face after being struck down by a rare skin disease .
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .
DOG CAN FINALLY SEE OWNER AGAIN THANKS TO £1K FACELIFT
A dog whose forehead skin was so heavy that he was going blind has finally seen his owner again after undergoing a £1K FACELIFT .