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
HOUNDTON TABBY

FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .

NINJA RED SQUIRREL

A NINJA red squirrel cuts a dashing figure as the little fella jumps up to ten-feet between treetops in the Yorkshire Dales .

PHANTOM PREGNANCY NEARLY STOLE MY BABY DREAM

A young mum has told how a phantom pregnancy almost destroyed her dream of having a second child .

FIRST SHOES, FIRST STEPS FOR MENINGITIS TOT

Oday she is a picture of health - a happy, smiling child, enjoying life to the full .

PEE-TRIFIED: WOMAN HAS IRRATIONAL FEAR OF TOILETS

A woman with an irrational fear of toilets goes POTTY on the loo and runs away when she flushes, terrified it will swallow her up .

SNAP-SHOT - 18 FOOT CROCODILE SAVAGELY KILLS WILDEBEEST

This daredevil wildebeest tried a walk on the wild side - straight into the snatches of a huge 18 foot crocodile .

CATERPILLAR AND MANTIS BATTLE IT OUT

A little caterpillar fearlessly scampers down a branch and confronts a praying mantis .

EMPTY LONDON UNDERGROUND

USUALLY full to bursting, these London Underground stations stand silent and completely commuter free .

WHITE TAILED EAGLES FIGHT FOR FOOD

The claws come out at meal time as a group of white tailed eagles brawl over road-kill .

BIG FOOT 'JESUS BIRD'

THIS BIGFOOT 'Jesus bird' may look silly, but he's perfectly designed for walking on water .

BUNGLING DRUG DEALER CAUGHT IN TOP COP'S PARKING SPACE

A prolific drug dealer was caught red-handed in a car filled with amphetamines after he decided to park in a top copper's parking space - as a joke .

SUPER TOT – BIZARRE BABY PHOTO’S

Magical photos of your baby smiling for the first time are a priceless treasure for many a proud parent .