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
MANDELA MEMORIAL
Thousands of people are gathering at a stadium in Johannesburg for a memorial service for Nelson Mandela .
APPY CAMPING: COOKING STOVE CHARGES SMARTPHONES
Here's a APPY solution that should brighten up a wet weekend away camping - a wood powered stove that also recharges your smartphone .
PREGOREXIC MUM GIVES BIRTH TO HEALTHY BABY
A mum who weighed just 8st 1lb at eight months pregnant has battled her eating disorder to give birth to a healthy baby girl .
£34m TAX FRAUD RACKET JAILED
A man who conned tax officials out of £34 million and funded a lavish lifestyle of luxury hotels and restaurants has been jailed for one of the longest sentences in British criminal fraud history .
DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
MUM LOSES 10 STONE AFTER SON ASKS IF SHE’S PREGNANT
A mum-of-three lost 10 stone after her son asked if she was pregnant .
ABANDONED CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH TOWN
A once bustling gold rush town in Mono County, California now stands completed deserted .
KILLED BY MAKE-UP - TRAGIC 18th CENTURY CELEB'S MIRROR AUCTIONED
She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence .
BOXING DAY SQUIRRELS
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
CLIMBERS TACKLE 200FT TOTEM POLE
TOWERING 65 metres into the sky, this terrifying accent is a dream for climbers .
FUNERAL COMPANY MAKE DIAMONDS FROM CREMATED REMAINS
SPARKLING bright inside their box, it’s hard to believe these diamonds are made from the cremated remains of the deceased .
BASHFUL ORANGUTAN
A young orangutan comes over all shy as she hides her face behind a broken bucket .