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
AVATAR-STYLE WISTERIAS WILL LEAVE YOU FEELING TREE-UMPHANT
A TEN-THOUSAND square foot wide Avatar-style grove is such a beauty it will leave you feeling VINE .
BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT
Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .
ADORABLE PENGUINS HATCH AT UK ZOO
HOPPING onto the scales, these adorable baby Humboldt penguins are ready for their first weigh-in .
REAL LIFE VICTORIAN
A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home .
36 YEAR AGE GAP COUPLE MISTAKEN FOR DAD AND DAUGHTER
A couple from Bristol have told that they are often mistaken for father and daughter because of their huge 36 year age gap .
TRAPPED IN THE BODY OF A 10 YR OLD: TEENAGE GIRL BORN WITHOUT HORMONES
She is about to start driving and soon will be able to legally buy alcohol and get married, but Poppy Webb-Jones still looks and thinks like a ten-year-old girl .
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 .
FROZEN IN TIME LIGHTHOUSE
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
CAMOUFLAGED NORTHERN POTOO BIRD IS A MASTER OF DISGUISE
A northern potoo shows it is a master of disguise as it perches on a tree stump and blends into the bark .
JEAN- IUS DIET: 24ST MUM LOSES 12ST THANKS TO JEANS DIET
A mum-of-three lost half of her body weight after her daughter was teased by playground bullies for having a 'fat mum' .
THE LITTLE MER-WIFE: DISNEY-THEMED WEDDING CREATES A SPLASH
It’s the must-have for any true Disney fan: a Little Mermaid themed wedding .
BROTHER SEXUALLY ABUSED ME AGED 6 AND TOLD ME HE'D GET CANCER IF I DIDN'T LET HIM
Sophie Carr, 23, from Swindon, was just six when her older brother Alex, then 12, abused her during a game of mummies and daddies .