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
DOG WHO HAD HER EYES GOUGED OUT FINDS LOVING HOME IN THE UK

An adorable rescue dog who had her eyes gouged out by thugs in Romania has found a loving home in the UK .

BUG LOOKS JUST LIKE SATAN

This longhorn beetle demon-strates a dark side as it looks just like the devil .

MESMERISING FIELD PATTERNS

FULL OF STUNNING colours and swirling shapes, the furrows on these fields create a mix of mesmerising patterns .

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 .

HEROIC BURNS SURVIVOR BECOMES FIREFIGHTER

An American man who suffered horrific third-degree burns to 70 percent of his body in a childhood accident has faced his fears by becoming a firefighter .

BOSTON MARATHON PICTURES

T least three people have been killed and more than 100 injured, some seriously, in two explosions at the finish line of the Boston Marathon .

FALSE KILLER WHALE BEAMS AS HE CATCHES HIS LUNCH

Say cheese! This cheeky chappy isn’t in the mood to live up to his scary reputation as he is pictured here cracking a killer smile as he goes about his daily business .

SEXY TRAFFIC GIRLS OF NORTH KOREA

WITH their robotic movements and pristine uniforms, these are the sexy traffic girls of North Korea that are becoming iconic figures in the secretive state .

SISTERS BOTCHED NOSE JOBS AND £19.5K SURGERY BILL

Two sisters from Hampshire who suffered botched nose jobs have spent £19 .

TEST COULD HAVE SAVED ME FROM CERVICAL CANCER AT 20

A young woman has told how she has been robbed of her fertility and now faces an uncertain future after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of just 22 .

UNUSUAL ANIMAL FRIENDSHIP

SAT happily on the branch of a tree, this little frog appears unfazed by a surprise visitor .

OLYMPIC KNITWITS - KNITTERS STITCHED UP BY RED TAPE

Housands of cushions handmade as gifts for Olympics athletes may go to waste after London 2012 KNITWITS stitched up volunteers by refusing to allow them to hand them out .