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
‘WORLD’S SMALLEST CINEMA’ IN OAP’S HOUSE

Pic By HotSpot Media - ‘WORLD’S SMALLEST CINEMA’ IN OAP’S HOUSE -IN PIC- AN OAP film buff has brought the big screen to his home and built the world's smallest cinema in his BEDROOM .

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 .

SNOWHERE TO HIDE MY NUTS! RARE RED SQUIRRELS FROLIC IN THE SNOW

If you had to scrape the snow off your car this morning or slip-slide your way into work over icy pavements spare a thought for these little critters .

OWLS ARE MASTERS OF DISGUISE IN INDIAN FOREST

HUDDLED together in the hollow of a tree, it would be easy to overlook these two sleepy owls as they blend into the trunk .

CHILD SHEPHERDS OF THE SIMIEN MOUNTAINS

CARRYING a fully grown goat on his back, this five-year-old boy is a child shepherd in the mountains of northern Ethiopia .

RAPED TWICE BY MY SISTER'S FRIEND, AND HE TOOK PICTURES

Brave Amy, 18, has waived her anonymity to tell how she jailed rapist Philip Sims-Neighbour, 37, of Hylton Road, Worcester .

PRAIRIE DOG AND STARLING STAND-OFF

This starling and prairie dog will not back down an inch as they have a fearsome stand-off over who gets to eat a nut .

FIVE-WEEK-OLD NEWBORN IS UK’S YOUNGEST BEAUTY PAGEANT BABY

A five-week-old newborn from Fife has become the UK’s youngest beauty pageant baby .

BEAUTIFUL HUMMINGBIRDS SHOW OFF THEIR COLOURS

From vibrant blues to dazzling oranges, these eye catching hummingbirds proudly show off their impressive colours .

BABY WHALE AND MOTHER LAP UP TOURIST ATTENTION

A grey whale and her calf greet an audience of awestruck admirers on the Pacific coast of Baja California Sur, Mexico .

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .