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
BIG FOOT 'JESUS BIRD'

THIS BIGFOOT 'Jesus bird' may look silly, but he's perfectly designed for walking on water .

FROG FRIENDS

PERCHED on a branch, these two frogs hold hands as they look into the camera .

MINI WONDERS OF THE WORLD

WONDERS of the world have been transformed into their mini-versions in a seven-year round the world adventure .

SEEING DOUBLE - A TWO HEADED TURTLE BORN AT TEXAS ZOO

The San Antonio Zoo in Texas has welcomed a bizarre new addition - a two-headed turtle named Thelma and Louise .

CATERPILLAR AND MANTIS BATTLE IT OUT

A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .

PORCUPINES COME CLOSE TO VICTORY AGAINST PRIDE OF HUNGRY LIONS

Jostling their quills into the noses of some unlucky cubs, this is the moment two feisty porcupines ALMOST defeat a pride of seven lions .

MILLIONS OF LUMINOUS FISH DWARF DIVERS

SWIMMING in unison, millions of silverside fish dwarf the divers .

BRITAIN'S LOST MILITARY HOSPITAL

WELCOME to all that remains of Britain's once state-of-the-art military hospital where plastic surgery was pioneered for injured WW1 troops who survived the SOMME .

STUNNING BRITISH AUTUMN LANDSCAPES

From the rolling hills of the Brecon Beacons to the still waters in the Lake District, these photographs capture autumnal landscapes across Great Britain perfectly .

WOMAN SPENDS £30K ON HELLO KITTY ADDICTION 

A shoe designer from London has spent a whopping £30,000 on Hello Kitty memorabilia .

WOMAN LOSES 8ST AFTER DITCHING CURRY ADDICTION

A woman who was addicted to eating curries has shed an impressive 8st after giving up her favourite food .

FOUND NEMO

A curious clownfish peaks through the tentacles of a sea anemone .