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
CHINESE FISHERMEN FISHING WITH RARE TECHNIQUE
SAILING peacefully across a river in the early morning light, a fisherman in China keeps a 1000 year old tradition alive .
FIRE BREATHING FIAT 500
AN ITALIAN mechanic has created the world’s most ferocious mini-car .
POLAR BEAR PLAY
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
WOMAN LOSES 8ST TO DITCH 'FAT SISTER' TAG
A former takeaway addict, who once weighed 20st, has lost over 8st in a bid to ditch her ‘fat sister’ tag .
SNEAKY OTTER
A young otter wades through a lake with his eyes set on an older rival’s fish .
KINGFISHERS DIVE FOR THEIR DINNER
THESE kingfishers prove no rod is needed as they go fishing for their dinner .
AMAZING THUNDERSTORM LIGHTS UP THE SARDINIAN COAST
POWERFUL bolts of lightning illuminate the night sky in an incredible autumn storm over the Sardinian coastline .
CHIPS IN: MAN MAKES £4K A MONTH SENDING POTATOES IN THE POST
A man has made a SPUD-TACULAR amount of money sending potatoes in the post .
SPECTACLED BEAR IS CHRISTMAS STAR ON ZOO’S TREE
Most people have an angel at the top of their Christmas tree, but one bear at Chester Zoo decided he wanted to be the star of the show .
CAGE -FIGHTER BF FRACTURED MY EYE SOCKET, NOSE, BIT MY FACE AND FORCED ME TO MAKE HIM A SAUSAGE SARNIE AT KNIFEPOINT
After Leigh Hancock, 36, joined Fallon Bramall's boxing gym she owned with her husband, the pair took him under their wing .
LOVE BIRDS
THESE LOVE BIRDS can’t keep their beaks off each other as they share a very public display of affection .
WOMAN'S CAR BURST INTO FLAMES AFTER A SEIZURE CAUSED HER TO CRASH INTO A TREE – SHE SUFFERED BURNS TO 40% OF HER BODY AND NOW SHE'S A TRIPLE AMPUTEE
Marisah pictured today with scarring to her left arm - A mother-of-one has revealed how she almost died after suffering a seizure whilst driving that caused her car to crash into a tree and burst into flames .