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
ABANDONED CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH TOWN
A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .
SNOW HITS BIRMINGHAM
More weather chaos is heading our way, with ice and snow already hitting areas across Birmingham .
BEAUTY QUEEN ACID SCARE
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BEAUTY QUEEN ACID SCARE: Miss England finalist, Karla Fitzpatrick, 19, at the Miss England contest .
PLENTY OF FISH IN THE SEA - CUTE PUFFIN BITES OFF MORE THAN HE CAN CHEW
This is the moment a puffin delved into the ocean and bit off more than he could chew to collect a beak full of fish .
SPECTACULAR BODY ART
FROM COLOURFUL autumn leaves to living trees at first glance you might miss these people blended with nature .
ADORABLE SQUIRREL TRIES HER HAND AT PHOTOGRAPHY
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
PURR-FECT TIGER CUBS GET THEIR HEALTH CHECKS
TRYING their best to wriggle away, three adorable tiger cubs receive their health checks at Chester Zoo .
WOMAN LOSES OVER 10ST AFTER DITCHING TAKEAWAY HABIT
A Hereford woman has lost 10st 3lbs after ditching her £260-a-month takeaway habit .
WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS DIVE
Standing on the edge of a never-ending black hole, this is one leap you wouldn't want to make .
I BLAME MYSELF FOR MY DAUGHTER’S ANOREXIA
WENDY Randall, 16, from Kent is now training to be a bodybuilder after recovering from anorexia .