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
MILLIONS OF LUMINOUS FISH DWARF DIVERS
SWIMMING in unison, millions of silverside fish dwarf the divers .
GIANT CANYON SWING
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .
EASTER ISLAND REPLICA STATUES DESTROYED IN SEA FALL
A project to create an underwater tribute to the stone Moai statues of Easter Island ended in disaster when 15 replica structures were destroyed after toppling from a boat and into the sea .
MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .
WOMAN’S DAUGHTER KILLED HERSELF AFTER SUFFERING HORRIFIC ABUSE AT THE HANDS OF HER MONSTER EX
A mother-of-four has revealed how her daughter tragically took her own life after being subjected to horrific abuse at the hands of her ex-partner .
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 .
ROAD KILL ON THE MENU
A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .
MESMERIZING STAR TRAILS
MESMERIZING night sky photographs offer a spellbinding look at the stars .
ANOREXIC DENTAL NURSE WHO SHRUNK TO UNDER FOUR STONE WINS HER NHS FIGHT FOR MORE TREATMENT
AN ANOREXIC dental nurse whose weight plummeted to less than four stone has won her NHS fight for more treatment .
WORLD'S FIRST SIGN LANGUAGE RESTAURANT
A world's first restaurant has opened in Canada, where having your order fall on deaf ears is a good thing .
LEAPING WOOD MOUSE
LEAPING through the air this determined little mouse is on a mission for food .
A HOLE LOT OF TROUBLE! - WOMAN HAS PHOBIA OF HOLES
Meet mother of four, Jackie Wright, whose bizarre fear means she is terrified of HOLES .