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
WOMAN’S SICK NEIGHBOUR SEXUALLY ABUSED HER FROM AGED NINE IN BROAD DAYLIGHT – WHEN SHE BRAVELY REPORTED HIM, SIX OTHERS CAME FORWARD
Kaitlin pictured aged nine - Heart pounding, Kaitlin Womack stared in shock at a Facebook post on her phone .
COUPLE CELEBRATE THEIR 70TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY AND RECEIVE SPECIAL CARD FROM NEWLY CROWNED KING CHARLES
A couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last week and have received a special card from newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla .
ROAD KILL ON THE MENU
A ROAD KILL munching Scot has chewed on everything from a dead squirrel to an unlucky crow – all in the name of art .
MYSTERY OF THE CROOKED COTTAGE
THIS is the fascinating abandoned house, complete with mystery portraits and homely items, that has been dubbed - crooked cottage .
VICTIM SLAMS SENTENCE AS THUG WALKS FREE FROM COURT
A woman brutally beaten in a revenge attack has slammed the soft sentence handed to her assailant .
OUT-STANDING FIREFIGHTER BREAKS ENDURANCE WORLD RECORD
A US firefighter has battled osteoarthritis and four hip replacements to break the world paddleboarding record .
WOMAN LOSES 10ST AFTER BLOWING £12K STUDENT LOAN ON FOOD
A woman who blew £12k of her student loan on junk food and booze has lost 10st after ditching her unhealthy habits .
IRELAND'S HIDDEN BEAUTY
THE TOWERING Irish cliffs of Moher stand tall over the rippling Atlantic Ocean .
BASHFUL ORANGUTAN
A young orangutan comes over all shy as she hides her face behind a broken bucket .
COUGAR: I FELL FOR MAN 18YRS MY JUNIOR BUT MY SONS DIDN'T COME TO OUR WEDDING
A woman has revealed how she left her husband of 24 years, after falling in love with a man, 18 years her junior .
ET PHONE THIS NUMBER: UK'S FIRST HOTLINE FOR ALIEN ABDUCTEES
The UK's first hotline - and possibly the galaxy's - for people who have been targeted by aliens has opened to the public .