False rumours swept the internet on Tuesday that Patrick Swayze passed away, little more than a week after it was wrongly claimed that he had a lung removed, so we wonder: what ridiculous claim will he have to deny next?
STV provided the first article online revealing that the reckless claim about Swayze’s death had been denied by Swayze’s rep. We can now also exclusively reveal that he’s not about to collaborate with Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent, or appear in the new series of Big Brother.
Soon after he was first diagnosed Swayze was hit with wild speculation that he had only five weeks to live, something he was then forced to deny.
In last week’s edition of the National Enquirer the main headline blared out ‘Patrick Swayze’s LUNG REMOVAL SURGERY’ as apparent breaking news - but again, it wasn’t true.
No wonder that, back in December, Swayze said: “The only thorn in my side being that many tabloids have been consistently reporting lies and false information about me and those close to me.
“It’s upsetting that the shoddy and reckless reporting from these publications cast a negative shadow on the positive and good fight I’m fighting, that makes me angry when hope is so precious.”
Farrah Fawcett and Jade Goody also struggled to cope with their illness under the full glare of the media spotlight. With that in mind, commentators, bloggers and Twitterers are asking with more vehemence whether celebrities should be granted more privacy to deal with the situation with relative dignity, rather than having to deny ridiculous rumours which needlessly upset friends and family.
The death rumours began on Tuesday after Florida radio station Kiss FM posted a Twitter message saying that Swayze had passed away. It was later removed, as was a Wikipedia update also acknowledging his “death”.
Numerous TV and radio stations and internet sites then started to report the story as true despite the lack of available information. Swayze was diagnosed with advanced stage four pancreatic cancer in January last year.
Wolf's statement read: "This is to confirm that Patrick Swayze did not pass away this morning contrary to severely reckless reports stemming from a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida."
"Patrick Swayze is alive, well and is enjoying his life and he continues to respond to treatment."
The 56 year old has been undergoing a public battle with pancreatic cancer, working on despite his illness under the full glare of the media spotlight. Depending on the extent of the cancer at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis is generally regarded as poor, with less than five percent of those diagnosed still alive five years after diagnosis.
In a TV interview earlier this year, Swayze said: “You can bet I'm going through hell. There's a lot of fear here ... Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm (asking) why me?”
The actor faced the disease head on and bravely went ahead with US cop show The Beast, in which he stars as an FBI agent.
