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
GIRL GROWS BACK FACE AFTER ONE IN MILLION ALLERGIC REACTION
A teenage girl has grown back her entire face after being struck down by a rare skin disease .
HUMAN CCTV COP BUSTS 130 CRIMINALS
Meet the human CCTV: a PCSO with a memory for faces so sharp he has apprehended more than 130 suspects in the last year alone with his eagle eyed talents .
SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .
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 .
HUNGRY WHITE-TAILED KITE
SOARING through the air, a hungry white-tailed kite prepares to snatch a vole from his mother’s claws .
AMAZING JOHNNY DEPP LOOKALIKE MISTAKEN FOR REAL DEAL
Whenever 46-year-old Melo Masi steps out of his front door in Berkshire, he risks being mobbed by strangers desperate for a selfie - all because of his incredible likeness to Hollywood megastar, Johnny Depp .
MUM LOOKED LIKE A MONSTER AFTER HAIR DYE ALLERGIC REACTION
A mum-of-one was left looking like a ‘monster’ after suffering a horrific allergic reaction to hair dye while pregnant .
NATURE PAPS
NATURE PAPARAZZIS prove you don't have to be Justin Bieber or Cheryl Cole to attract a pack of photographers .
GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS GANG JAILED FOR 12YRS
A gang whose £1-million supercar scam has echoes of the film Gone In Sixty Seconds has been jailed for a total of 12 years .
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 .
BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPES CAPTURED ACROSS EUROPE
From the crisp, snow clad mountains to vivid bright blue rivers, these breath-taking photographs capture the incredible beauty of various landscapes across France and Italy .
DAZZLING BEAUTY OF THE MILKY WAY ABOVE UK AND ITALY
A photographer has captured stunning photographs of the Milky Way above picturesque landscapes in the UK and Italy .