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
PELICANS RUFFLE EACH OTHER'S FEATHERS

THIS is the moment one irritated pelican nearly swallows the entire head of his unlucky competitor .

DOUBLE OR NOTHING: TWINS SPEND £150,000 TO LOOK IDENTICAL

TWIN SISTERS from Australia have taken their sisterly bond to the extreme by spending £150,000 to look IDENTICAL .

I LOST 12 STONE…AND MY VIRGINITY!

A former food addict who had spent her whole life dreaming of romance shed an astonishing 12st 7lbs to experience love for the first time .

GOING BALLISTIC - 15 FOOT RED BALL ARTIST

This is the crazy art project that is going ballistic - placing a huge squishy 15ft red ball into tight spaces .

AURORA BOREALIS ILLUMINATES LAPLAND

From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .

HER ROYAL i-NESS - THERE'S AN APP TO STEAL KATE'S STYLE

Have you ever wanted to emulate the Duchess of Cambridge's style? Well, now there's an app for that .

MICROBES OR FLAMINGOS

FLAMINGOS from above look like the pink algae they eat .

SECRET POOL IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT

HIDDEN in the middle of the Mojave Desert, a secret oasis awaits intrepid travellers .

GIANT JELLYFISH DWARFS DIVER - CONTRACT CANCELLED

CONTRACT CANCELLED - DO NOT SYNDICATE!! .

BALD IS BEAUTIFUL: WOMEN WITH ALOPECIA TRANSFORMED INTO STUNNING SIRENS

A photographer has transformed women with alopecia into stunning sirens - showing that bald is beautiful .

ADORABLE YOUNG FALLOW DEER IN LONDON'S BUSHY PARK

An adorable young fallow deer peers over its shoulder and is greeted by a cheeky jackdaw crow sitting on its back .

MIRACLE BABY SAVED BY SUPERGLUE

A miracle baby has overcome a one-in-five-million brain condition – after a blob of glue saved his life .