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 man has lost an incredible 20st after his addiction to food left him £15k in debt .
A DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free .
A former size 30 comfort-eater ditched her husband and lost over 10st after he called her a 'fat cow' .
An Australian beach is illuminated by an enticing neon blue glow as a rare phenomenon lights up the water .
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .
A hero dog has saved the life of her asthmatic owner after waking her up during a severe asthma attack .
With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .
Pint- size Maci Winters only has one wish this Christmas - to be as tall as the other boys and girls on the school playground .
Marina Afonina, now 51, from Northampton, met Ioan Budea in 2006 .
Pic By Graham Gibson/ HotSpot Media - SHARK HYPNOTIST BALANCES SHARK IN PALM OF HIS HAND- In Pic - Diver Tom and Caribbean reef sharks in the Bahamas- A SHARK hypnotist balances these predators in the palm of his hand by sending them to sleep with a gentle nose rub .
CREATED over 60 years ago, this weighty machine was the Photoshop of its time .