Truth about 7-year-old boy who ‘died after receiving Covid-19 vaccine’

A Sydney father claimed his son died in an ambulance days after being vaccinated against Covid-19 — but one part of his story proves it isn’t as it seems.

A Sydney father’s declaration that his “beautiful” seven-year-old son died in the back of an ambulance of a “massive heart attack” days after receiving his Covid-19 vaccine has been labelled a hoax by authorities after sleuths noticed something was wrong with the man’s Facebook page.

In a lengthy Facebook comment that swiftly drummed up thousands of likes, comments and shares, “Steve Leary” claimed he lost his son “Lachlan” last week “to the vaccine”.

“He had been unwell on Wednesday night with a fever and we monitored him closely, 6am the next morning he started having breathing difficulties so we took him to Westmead Hospital. They tried to stop us from going in with him but it did not work,” the comment, which, along with the profile was taken down, read.

“4 hours passed after many tests. He was sent home 5 hours later. Friday morning at 4am we heard him yell out, he was on his bedroom floor, he then collapsed, he was not breathing, my wife and I began CPR, I called the ambo on loud speaker.

“Ambo arrived within 7 mins, my son passed away in the ambulance. He had a massive heart attack … The government has ruined my family, they have taken away our only son, we put our trust in the government to keep us safe and they killed my boy!!!!”

Steve Leary's comment and profile have been removed. Picture: Facebook

Officials believe, however, that rather than a parent’s distraught story, Leary’s comment was nothing more than a renewed attempt from anti-vaxxers to discourage parents from booking in their children to get the jab.

Sleuths uncover fake Facebook profile

Other Facebook users also poked holes in the validity of Leary’s profile — with one man identifying Leary’s profile picture as having been taken from a fishing website in Panama.

Images of a Steve Leary that ran alongside stories of the death on several unverified news sites showed a man who served as the mayor of Winter Park, in Florida, and resides in the United States.

Leary's profile picture was taken from a website in Panama. Picture: Facebook

The website Leary’s profile picture was taken from. Picture: Facebook

NSW Health shut down ‘ambulance’ claim

There is no record of a Lachlan Leary who died in Sydney last week — or at all — and NSW Health said it “has not been able to locate any record of any such incident”.

“There are many inaccurate posts currently circulating on social media,” The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, where Leary claims “Lachlan” was taken, wrote on Facebook, refuting the claims.

“There is no record of any child having passed away following Covid vaccination at our hospital.”

TGA rubbishes vaccine allegation

Leary’s claim comes just a week after five- to 11-year-olds became eligible to receive the Covid-19 jab.

In a statement to 7 News, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) — which records all adverse events associated with the Covid-19 vaccines — also dismissed Leary’s claim.

The TGA said it “has not received any adverse event reports involving the death of any children aged between 5 and 11 years”.

NSW Health said it “has not been able to locate any record of any such incident”. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Damian Shaw

Tom van Dijk, whose tragic death by cardiac arrest last year was hijacked by anti-vaxxers claiming it was linked to the Pfizer vaccine.

Last year, anti-vaxxers made headlines when they hijacked the death of St Pius X College Year 12 student Tom van Dijk, who died after chest pains worsened due to sudden cardiac arrest while swimming with his family.

Rogue social media users claimed the student had actually died from the Pfizer jab, leading the principal of the Chatswood school, John Couani, to condemn their behaviour.

“Despite the clear communication from the College, there have been many insensitive and grossly inaccurate reports on social media,” Mr Couani said.

He added that Tom’s family wanted to “make it very clear” their son was not yet vaccinated because he wasn’t eligible at the time, and had had a negative Covid-19 test at hospital.

“It is very disappointing that a statement such as this needs to be made and the College now asks that respect is shown to allow for the family and community to grieve the loss of his brilliant and talented young man,” Mr Couani said.