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 23st woman who was left humiliated after breaking a TOILET SEAT has lost an incredible 11st .
She was the 18th century celebrity who made men faint in awe of her beauty by her very presence .
A man has made a SPUD-TACULAR amount of money sending potatoes in the post .
A former soldier who bravely took on penny-pinching NHS bosses in his fight against terminal cancer has died, aged 37 .
From squids to Star Wars, these flipping marvellous creations are pancake portraits .
Sunny Saap, 27, from Columbia, Missouri, United States, enjoys life with her two boyfriends .
A curious red squirrel takes a break from collecting nuts and tries her hand at photography .
A group of shelter dogs showcase their loveable personalities in a series of passport-style photographs - in the hope of finding their forever homes .
A Little owl looks down the lens of a camera and gives the photographer a cheeky wink .
WITH a paw in the air and his tongue hanging from his mouth, it is clear to see that this little groundhog is struggling to wake up and leave behind the comfort of his burrow .
The gunslingers are long gone and tumbleweeds have taken over at this abandoned American Wild West Theme Park in Cornwall .
A trout manages to escape the jaws of a hungry cormorant - only to find itself back inside the bird's long beak .