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
MY 4YO BEAUTY PAGEANT DAUGHTER WEARS FAKE TAN AND LIPSTICK - AND STRANGERS THINK I'M TARTING HER UP
Growing up, Jasmine Price, now four, loved watching her older sister, Mia Price, now 10, compete in beauty pageants .
POLAR BEAR HUG
LYING back in the snow, these two polar bears share a cuddle as they call time out on playtime .
YOGI - BEAR - POLAR CUBS MORNING BEAR-ROBICS
A young polar bear cub becomes the yogi bear as she stretches off for a morning aerobics session .
DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?
Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .
SHEEPDOG GIVES BIRTH TO BUMPER LITTER OF 14 PUPS
One sheepdog is taking a well-deserved rest after giving birth to a whole WHEELBARROW-FUL of puppies .
BRAVEHEART: BABY GIRL SURVIVES HEART SWELLING TO SIZE OF ORANGE
A baby girl has become the youngest British patient to receive a life-saving cardiac operation after her heart swelled to twice its normal size within days of her birth .
HOLE LOT OF TROUBLE: BADGERS BORE UNDER TRAIN TRACK
Commuters were put in a HOLE lot of trouble after trains were cancelled by a hole created by BADGERS .
REAL-LIFE SHIPWRECKED EXPERIENCE
THE THOUGHT OF BECOMING shipwrecked on a remote destination would fill most holidaymakers with dread .
250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .
POOCHES POSE IN THEIR ELABORATE HEADSCARF COLLECTION
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .
SPLASHING KINGFISHER
CAUSING a splash, this determined kingfisher goes hunting for dinner .