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
BURSTING FIREWORKS

BURSTING colours of reds, pinks and purples give the illusion of a collection of stunning flowers .

WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER BREAKING TOILET SEAT

A 23st woman who was left humiliated after breaking a TOILET SEAT has lost an incredible 11st .

BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES CAPTURED ACROSS EUROPE

From the crisp, snow clad mountains to vivid bright blue rivers, these breath-taking photographs capture the incredible beauty of various landscapes across France and Italy .

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 .

'GRENADE' DIET PILLS PUT AIRPORTS ON ALERT

AIRPORT staff have been put on alert after diet pills that come in grenade shaped containers sparked security alerts .

WOMAN LOSES 9ST AFTER JUNK FOOD ADDICTION LEFT HER £1.5K IN DEBT

An obese woman has lost 9st after an addiction to junk food left her £1 .

VISOR FASHION FAIL

FROM motorcycling to department store shopping these spookily faceless people are part of the Chinese-fad for wearing protective solar-visors in public .

SCULPTURES THAT WILL LEAF YOU SPEECHLESS

GIANT garden sculptures don't beat about the bush .

BACK TO BASICS HOTEL

CAMPED out in the middle of a forest, these unusual hut hotels take you back to basics .

ENGLISH SEASIDE SPLIT SHOTS

From a floating jelly fish to a relaxed seal, Britain’s unappreciated beach life is captured above and below the water .

ARTIST TURNS DAUGHTER'S DOODLES INTO WORKS OF ART

THIS UNUSUAL collaboration between a mother and her two-year-old daughter makes for some stunning works of art .

CCTV CAPTURES NEWSREADER WALKING INTO A CANAL WHILE TEXTING

THIS is the shocking moment a clumsy radio newsreader plunged into a freezing canal while texting her boyfriend instead of looking where she was going .