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.
A woman has spoken of her heartbreak after she was rejected by an adoption agency because of her pregnancy phobia .
An obese woman has lost 9st after an addiction to junk food left her £1 .
SWIMMING next to 40 tonne whales, dare-devil divers take the plunge with these gentle giants of the sea .
THIS DANGER-mad female pensioner could be the oldest Brit to cage dive with CROCODILES .
Some will get up close and personal with Mother Nature’s deadliest animals to get the perfect shot, posing the question, what lengths will a photographer go to for that all important picture? But in this case, the question should be what depths .
When Kylie Holgate discovered her fiancé was having an affair, her world came crashing down .
WITH HIS PAW covering his mouth, this cheeky cub looks amused by something .
A diver explores the crystal clear waters of the Silfra canyon in southern Iceland, which is the only place on Earth where you can dive or snorkel between two continental plates .
A woman has revealed how she was left scarred for life after accidentally falling into a bonfire at a friend’s BBQ .
A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .
GUITARISTS that want to lay down some slick licks will soon be able to get their hands on a brand new guitar - made from oil cans .