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
LOOK, NO HANDS! MAN CONTROLS VEHICLE USING HIS BRAIN
A Birmingham man inspired by sci-fi film Wall-E, has created a one- wheeled vehicle, controlled by signals from his BRAIN .
HAPPILY UN-COUPLED - JILTED WOMAN THROWS DIVORCE PARTY
A woman has celebrated the end of her marriage to her unfaithful husband by throwing herself a DIVORCE PARTY .
BABY WITH HEART-SHAPED BIRTHMARK CONCEIVED ON VALENTINE'S DAY
An adorable baby girl was born with a heart-shaped birthmark on her forehead - after being conceived on Valentine's Day .
HOLE LOT OF TROUBLE: BADGERS BORE UNDER TRAIN TRACK
Commuters were put in a HOLE lot of trouble after trains were cancelled by a hole created by BADGERS .
CHEEKY OWL’S UNUSUAL LANDING SPOT
An owl swoops through the air before making an unorthodox landing - right on top of an unsuspecting man's head .
I HID AWAY FOR YEARS AFTER DEVELOPING SORES ON MY FACE AND BODY - NOW I’M A DIVERSITY MODEL
A woman whose face and body was left scarred for life by angry sores, caused by Lupus, has become a diversity model .
HITCHHIKING BIRDS
LINED up one by one on a deer’s back, these little birds give their wings a break as they catch a ride across London .
INCREDIBLE BABY DREAMS BROUGHT TO LIFE
WHETHER FLOATING through space or diving underwater, a lucky baby boy enjoys once in a life time experiences - in his DREAMS .
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 .
THE BEAUTIFUL MOSQUE OF COLOURS
As sunlight cascades through its vibrant stained glass windows, every inch of the Nasir-ol-Mulk Mosque bursts with colour .