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
TRANS WOMAN'S £100K TRANSFORMATION FUNDED BY ONLINE FANS

A transgender woman has revealed how she was able to fund her transformation using £100K gifted to her by online admirers .

BEAR CUBS AND DOTING MUM

A little brown bear cub shows his doting mum that she is always on parent duty as he uses her as a scratching post .

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 .

ADORABLE CHIMP SHOWS OFF GYMNASTIC SKILLS

WITHOUT a care in the world, this little chimpanzee shows off her gymnastic skills as she swings around her enclosure .

NINE YEAR OLD GIRL'S 'PULLED MUSCLE' TURNS OUT TO BE CANCER

A nine year old girl nearly lost her leg after doctors initially misdiagnosed her bone cancer as a pulled muscle .

ARTY ELEPHANTS

EXTRAORDINARY elephants create beautiful paintings in Thailand .

RING OF FIRE ECLIPSE IN OZ

THIS RING of fire in the sky is the annular solar eclipse that wowed our cousins down-under .

PARKING UP THE WRONG TREE - ROBIN RELIANT FOUND HANGING IN GARDEN

This Robin Reliant appears to have taken a wrong turn after it ended up 15 feet high up in a TREE .

SIBLING RIVALRY

SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .

EXPOSED: SHAMELESS TROLL BULLIES INNOCENT GIRLS ONLINE

A shameless internet troll, who targets young girls online for fun, has slammed victims of cyber-bulling as WEAK .

SNOWY SQUIRRELS PLAY A GAME OF BALL

Throwing their arms up in the air, these energetic squirrels play a game of ball with a walnut .

BATTY ABOUT BATMAN - MAN SPENDS £65K ON COLLECTION

Kevin Silva, 52 from Indiana in the USA, has spent an estimated £65K ($100K) on Batman trinkets over the years, and even keeps his 2,500-item haul in his very own basement 'Bat Cave' .