Pat Burns is still alive, Twitter out of control

News of the death of Pat Burns spread like wildfire on Twitter. The trouble with the report was that he was very much alive. The son of the former award-winning NHL coach was forced to call in to CBC Radio to set the record straight that his father was alive. About half an hour later, TSN’s Bob McKenzie also spoke with Burns himself, who said, “Here we go again. They are trying to kill me before I am dead…I’m not dead, far [expletive] from it. They’ve had me dead since June. Tell them I’m alive. Set them straight.”
It all started when there were reports of his death on Twitter, citing a tweet by CTV Ottawa. More outlets began to cite a report by TSN and the confusion continued when the Toronto Star spoke to Toronto Maple Leafs executive Cliff Fletcher, who said that a friend called him to say that Burns had died. But Newstalk 1010, along with the CBC reported the son as a source saying his father was still alive. A few minutes later, CTV Ottawa retracted its report.