On Oct. 25, the Defected Records label announced that Matthew Ward, better known to some as DJ Mighty Mouse, “died suddenly” on Oct. 20 at his home in Spain.
Ward died in his sleep from an aortic aneurysm, the label said in a Facebook post.
News of his death was met with condolences from fans and music industry colleagues. It also generated unsupported claims from COVID-19 vaccine skeptics who connected, without evidence, Ward’s inoculation history and his passing.
One Instagram post shared an Independent headline about Ward’s death and an April 11 tweet he posted that said: “Just had my booster jab, definitely does not come with a boost of energy.”
“To be fair, prolonged exposure to house music could’ve caused his aneurysm just as well as the poke,” the post said.
It was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
We reached out to Defected Records about the claim Ward died from the booster shot and didn’t immediately hear back.
But the Independent story referenced in the post doesn’t mention the vaccine, and we couldn’t find any other credible news reports or other sources that suggested it could’ve caused Ward’s death.
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An aortic aneurysm is a bulge that occurs in the wall of the major blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body, according to the Mayo Clinic. It increases the risk of developing a tear in the inner layer of the wall of the aorta. Blood can leak through the tear or the aneurysm can rupture completely, and both can be fatal.
In 2019, for example, 9,904 Americans died due to aortic aneurysms or ruptures, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than half of those deaths were men. Smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and hardened arteries are all risk factors.
Some rare heart-related side effects have been linked to COVID-19 vaccines, but health officials say the disease itself poses a much greater heart risk than do the vaccines that protect against it. The National Institutes of Health said the benefits of getting vaccinated “markedly outweigh the very small risk of vaccine-related myocarditis.” The NIH also said the risk of myocarditis linked with COVID-19 illness is several times greater than the risk from vaccination, and is often more serious.
We don’t know what caused Ward’s aneurysm. But claims that it was a COVID-19 booster are being made without evidence. We rate this claim False.
