A NEWS anchor struggled to hold back tears as she broke down live on air when announcing her late colleague’s death.
Ana Orsini, an Arizona journalist, died suddenly at the age of 28 following a brain aneurysm.
Orsini’s death was announced to viewers on December 16.
Her colleague Carsyn Currier held back tears as the announcement was made.
“Ana had been here…,” Currier said before taking a pause.
She tried to regain her composure and said staffers at KOLD-TV, a CBS affiliate, were left devastated by her death.
Currier’s colleague Tyler Butler then reached out to grab her hand.
Both anchors were wearing pink as a tribute to the late anchor.
In a social media post, Currier described Orsini as one of her best friends.
“Ana was not only beautiful, talented, and hilarious, but she was unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” she said.
“To know Ana was to LOVE her. She made everyone around her feel so special, heard, and understood.”
Currier reminisced that waking up in the middle of the night for work was made easier, knowing she’d be alongside Orsini.
“Whether she was dancing around the set or making us all laugh, everyday with Ana was an adventure,” she said.
“Time may pass, but my memories of Ana will never fade.”
Butler paid tribute to Orsini, describing her as a funny and crazy person.
Tributes have flooded into the reporter, who had been working for the network for just over a year.
CBS affiliate KOLD-TV shared the following statement about the death of their anchor, Ana Orsini:
“The 13 News Family is saddened to report the passing of our beloved friend and co-anchor Ana Orsini,” the news team shared.
“Ana had been at 13 News since June 2023 and we are devastated by her unexpected passing. She died last week of a brain aneurysm.”
The channel shared a compilation video of some of Orsini’s moments on air.
“Ana’s friends and coworkers remember her as someone with bottomless empathy who always stood up for ‘the little guy,'” the team said.
“She was a smiling face most especially for all her newest and youngest coworkers, and she is known in all the newsrooms where she worked for taking them under her wing and being a strong mentor for both work and life.
“Rescue animals were her passion, and if she wasn’t celebrating Fur Baby Friday, she’d be trying to find a new home for a cutie in need.
“If Ana found out you loved true crime, like she did, she would share the calendar she kept to track the releases of all the new episodes of the best podcasts.
“Her favorite was True Crime Obsessed, and if you spent longer than 5 minutes with Ana without hearing her favorite quote from it, ‘Let the women do the work,’ then something was seriously wrong!
“She was a peanut-butter-M&M-loving, platform-Ugg-wearing, pink-or-purple-Stanley-toting ray of sunshine, even at 4:00 in the morning.”
Meteorologist Allie Potter opened up on one of her final conversations with Orsini.
“We were just talking about eyelashes, and she gave me Advil because my back was hurting,” she posted on Facebook.
“Then the next day, she was gone.”
Potter described Orsini as one of the sassiest and sweetest girls that she knew.
“Literally no words and only tears,” she started her post.
“Still at a loss for words.”
Potter said she was wearing pink in a nod to her late co-worker.
“It’s something Ana would want,” she said.
“RIP Ana, we love you!”
Just days before her death, Orsini revealed that she had put up her Christmas decorations.
And she had settled down to watch the A&M vs. Texas football game.
“It truly is the most wonderful time of the year,” she said.
