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
DAREDEVIL DINING: THE 160FT HIGH RESTAURANT
Suspended FIFTY metres in the air, this is the last place that you would expect to find a fine dining experience .
THE ENCHANTING FOREST OF FIREFLIES
WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .
THE F-ANT-ASTIC ARTISTS
Exibiting their superhuman strength these ants look ready to create an art attack by lifting pencils several thousand times their own weight .
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 .
COUPLE RECREATE ICONIC SCENES FROM THE NOTEBOOK
A Canadian couple celebrated their engagement by recreating iconic moments from the film The Notebook .
FROG FRIENDS
PERCHED on a branch, these two frogs hold hands as they look into the camera .
CHEETAH HUNT
Hot on the heels of a little rabbit, this cheetah is on a mission to catch his prey .
SEEING DOUBLE - A TWO HEADED TURTLE BORN AT TEXAS ZOO
The San Antonio Zoo in Texas has welcomed a bizarre new addition - a two-headed turtle named Thelma and Louise .
ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
BUNGLING DRUG DEALER CAUGHT IN TOP COP'S PARKING SPACE
A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .
STABBED BY SON
Daniel Blore, 21, of Innage Crescent, Bridgnorth, stabbed his mother three times in the attack on January 11 this year, Stafford Crown Court heard .
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 .