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
SIBLING RIVALRY
SURROUNDED by a snowstorm, these young polar bears battle the elements - as well as each other .
AIR-MAZING MCDONALD’S – AEROPLANE TRANSFORMED INTO FAST FOOD RESTAURANT
Diners on this aeroplane are never disappointed with their meal, because the decommissioned aircraft is now home to an air-mazing McDonald’s restaurant .
PRAYING MANTIS MAKES AN UNLIKELY FRIEND
A brave praying mantis makes an unusual friend in an Oriental garden lizard .
LIGHTHOUSES OVERLOOK GLOWING SUNRISES
The lighthouses of Brittany, from Brest to Le Conquet, stand tall on France’s north-western coast against stunning scenery .
COUPLE TIE THE KNOT IN SPECTACULAR £45K HARRY POTTER WEDDING
A couple have tied the knot in a spectacular Harry Potter-themed wedding which cost £45,000 .
MAN LOSES 20 STONE AFTER FOOD ADDICTION RUNS UP £15K DEBT
A man has lost an incredible 20st after his addiction to food left him £15k in debt .
RELAXING OTTER
FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .
BOXING DAY SQUIRRELS
BOXING DAY has come early for this pair of feisty squirrels, as their Christmas party quickly turns sour .
STUNNING SUMATRAN TIGER CAUSES A SPLASH
BURSTING from the water, a beautiful but deadly Sumatran tiger jumps for food in an Indonesian zoo .
LAST MILITARY HOSPITAL TIME CAPSULE
INSIDE Britain's last Naval hospital where scurvy was cured looks like an NHS time capsule .
'GRENADE' DIET PILLS PUT AIRPORTS ON ALERT
AIRPORT staff have been put on alert after diet pills that come in grenade shaped containers sparked security alerts .
ARTIST TURNS DAUGHTER'S DOODLES INTO WORKS OF ART
THIS UNUSUAL collaboration between a mother and her two-year-old daughter makes for some stunning works of art .