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.
HOTSPOT MEDIA - BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH AR' KID: A POSTAL SORTER has perfected the art of time travel by delivering images that are from the past .
This is the amazing moment two white-tailed kites take an in-flight meal - exchanging prey at 100 foot high in mid air .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
A doting seal smiles at her sweet little pup as she tickles its tummy on the beach .
PERCHING on the edge of a flower, these loved-up caterpillars can't resist each other as they enjoy a romantic moment together .
A Little owl looks down the lens of a camera and gives the photographer a cheeky wink .
A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .
Armed with a snorkel, flippers and her skimpy bikini, an intrepid female free diver swims alongside an array of reef sharks .
SHOWING off her best assets for the camera, this cheeky orangutan is in the mood for love, puckering up her lips to blow the biggest kiss she can .
A US firefighter has battled osteoarthritis and four hip replacements to break the world paddleboarding record .
A Canadian couple celebrated their engagement by recreating iconic moments from the film The Notebook .
ALL IS not as it seems in these deceptive cityscapes .