In a televised interview, Dr. Céline Gounder discusses the sudden death of her husband, veteran sports journalist Grant Wahl, who collapsed while covering the World Cup in Qatar. A private autopsy determined that Wahl died from a ruptured blood vessel linked to an underlying, previously unknown genetic risk factor, not from a COVID‑19 vaccine. Gounder condemns the wave of false claims that blame the vaccine, labeling those spreading such narratives as “disinformation profiteers” who monetize controversy for followers, status, and revenue. She recounts personal attacks she has faced over her career as an infectious‑disease specialist and pro‑vaccine advocate, and describes the emotional toll of defending her husband’s memory while grieving. Gounder emphasizes her commitment to preserving Wahl’s legacy as a generous journalist who used sports reporting to advance social‑justice causes, and notes the overwhelming supportive response from the public despite ongoing misinformation attacks.
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Dr. Céline Gounder is taking a stand against different disinformation following the death of her husband, sports journalist Grant Wahl. He collapsed last month while covering the soccer World Cup in Qatar and was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Dr. Gounder had a private autopsy performed which found that Wahl died from a ruptured blood vessel, but many have falsely blamed COVID-19 vaccines. She writes about it in a New York Times op-ed titled Grant Wahl Was a Loving Husband. I will always protect his legacy. Dr. Gounder and Grant Wall were married for 21 years. She's also a CBS News medical contributor. Good morning, how you doing? Mm.
Hanging in there.
Good, well, thank you for joining us. We appreciate you and we appreciate your transparency. In this op-ed, you call them disinformation profiteers. What do you mean by that exactly?
Well, look, there is a business model for this. These are people who are trying to make money, who are trying to gain social media followers or Substack newsletter subscribers, who are looking for either social status and power, and they are using stories like that of my husband to profit off of that.
I am so saddened, Céline, hurt and angry that you even feel that you have the need to do this, that people actually came for you and were accusing, saying horrible things about what they wanted to do to you, falsely claiming that he died because of COVID Were you surprised that even you were attacked and he was attacked this way? I really was.
Well, I've been attacked for years now in the work that I do as an infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist, as somebody who is very pro-vaccine because we know they're highly effective and safe. They save lives. It's one of the most important things that medicine actually has to offer to save lives. So that they would come for me, not necessarily, but that they would come for my husband, mm-hmm, that really made me angry and under the circumstances was also really hurtful. I just wanted to take a breath and grieve with my family and— I'm not being allowed to do that by these folks.
Yeah, and let's talk about Grant for a second, because he was healthy. So what happened to him was just a fluky kind of thing, wasn't it? He was healthy. He was a healthy man.
Completely healthy. This is a guy who worked out with a trainer a couple times a week, would go on the rowing machine a couple times a week. Very, very healthy guy. But at the same time, he had an underlying genetic risk factor we were not aware of. There was no reason for us to test for it until that point. Which we've now uncovered during his autopsy. But I think what you're seeing is this pattern of vaccine skeptics who are saying, "Oh, look at these young, healthy people. It must be COVID vaccines." And that is simply not the case.
You write that after Grant's death, you swallowed your grief while protecting his legacy and trying to end these rumors. And you say that medical information can re-traumatize families. Are you prepared to be re-traumatized by writing this op-ed? Because you know They were coming after you before, probably gonna come after you again.
Oh, I'm sure they will, and I've already gotten a handful of, um, those kinds of messages. I will say the vast majority of the outreach that I've gotten since the op-ed has been very positive and supportive. But look, uh, you know, for me, it's really important that his legacy be protected, that he not get pulled into this anti-vaxxer mess. Um, and I will do whatever I need to do to protect his memory.
How do you want him to be remembered?
I want him to be remembered as the kind, generous person that he was. He was so generous to anybody from a student to a young reporter who was coming up in sports journalism. And he used sports journalism as a tool to advance social justice, whether that was for women and soccer and basketball or for LGBT rights.
During his memorial, I just saw the outpouring of love from people, not just journalists, but it was incredibly beautiful and moving. And you could just feel the love for Grant.
All the lives that he touched. Yeah, amazing. We're so glad you're here. Please know we're always cheering you on and always here to support. You have a lot of support out there. Thank you, Céline. Thank you for coming in. I know this is tough. We'll be right back.
