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
WOMAN SPENDS £10K TRANSFORMING INTO DISNEY PRINCESSES
Meet the real life princess who has spent £10k transforming herself into nine Disney beauties .
MOTHER'S FEAR AFTER SUICIDE DAUGHTER’S STALKER RELEASED
A mother is living in fear after the stalker she holds responsible for her daughter's death is back on the streets, after serving just one year in prison .
ADORABLE SHELTER DOGS STRIKE A ‘PAWS’ TO FIND FOREVER HOMES
A group of shelter dogs showcase their loveable personalities in a series of passport-style photographs - in the hope of finding their forever homes .
REAL-LIFE LITTLE BO PEEP AGE 20 DEVOTED TO HER 4 PET SHEEP
Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .
ON A WINGSUIT AND A PRAYER - FASTEST FLYING WOMAN IN THE WORLD
SOARING at 112 miles per hour through the air, this petite blonde certainly lives up to her title as the fastest flying woman in the world .
POLYAMOROUS TRIO: I SHARE A HOUSE WITH MY TWO BOYFRIENDS AND OUR CHILDREN
Sunny Saap, 27, from Columbia, Missouri, United States, enjoys life with her two boyfriends .
WOMAN LOSES 11ST AFTER £11K GASTRIC SLEEVE OP
A woman has shed half her body weight after undergoing a gastric sleeve op to shrink her stomach .
WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS
WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS - A little girl who suffered a catastrophic stroke in the womb which would have killed an adult has stunned the medical world by learning to walk, talk and see .
SPLASHING KINGFISHER
CAUSING a splash, this determined kingfisher goes hunting for dinner .
REAL FRANKENSTEIN'S LAB
WELCOME to the real Frankenstein's lab where carefully pickled creatures are left to stew in jars .
OUT OF THIS WORLD PLANET CAKES
Complete with core, mantle and crust, these incredible planet cakes are truly out of this world .
PERMANENT LIP FILLERS LEAVE WOMAN UNABLE TO SMILE
A woman has been left unable to smile after undergoing emergency surgery to remove infected lip fillers .