Ana Orsini, a morning co-anchor at KOLD 13 News in Tucson, Arizona, has died of a brain aneurysm at age 28, according to a news report by the station on Dec. 16.
Co-anchors Tyler Butler and Carsyn Currier announced her death during a Monday broadcast wearing pink to honor her and shared a video compilation of the fellow newscasters’ “favorite moments” of Orsini with viewers.
“Ana had been at 13 News since June 2023 and we are devastated by her unexpected passing,” KOLD 13 wrote on the station’s website.
Orsini’s colleagues remember her in the report as “someone with bottomless empathy who always stood up for ‘the little guy.'”
“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,” the station wrote.
“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. 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.”
The news report said Orsini died last week of a brain aneurysm. According to the Cleveland Clinic, a brain aneurysm is a bulge in a weak area of a blood vessel in or around your brain that can be life-threatening if ruptured.
Orsini, born in Denver, Colorado, started her professional career in 2018 after graduating from Texas A&M University in College Station with a degree in journalism and a double minor in communication and sports management, her bio at the station stated.
She worked as an anchor and reporter at an unnamed station in Lubbock, Texas, covering topics including “Texas Tech basketball to a months-long investigative series on a bridal shop scam,” according to her bio.
Orsini’s former workplace NewsWatch 12, where she spent three years as a morning and midday anchor covering topics from wildfires to helping shelter pets find their forever homes, described her as a “force to be reckoned with.”
“She was courageous, and fearless, and knew how to lead a newsroom with a look alone,” Ashe Hajek, former NewsWatch 12 “This Morning” producer, wrote in a news report from NewsWatch 12. “Ana was one of the most compassionate people I have ever met, and that can be felt in every aspect of her life. She led with a truthful heart full of love for people in her newsroom, in her community, and for people, she hadn’t met yet.”
Tyler Butler, KOLD 13 News morning anchor, shared a Facebook post on Monday remembering Orsini as someone who was “crazy passionate about helping animals” with a “great and sarcastic sense of humor, and was so dedicated to her family.”
“Ana Orsini, you were one in a trillion; wise beyond your years, full of practical insight, smart, compassionate, quick-witted, and possessed a contagious love for animals,” Dan Marries, a KOLD 13 News evening anchor, wrote in a post on Facebook.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Orsini family during this incredibly tragic time. As a parent, I can’t even begin to imagine their pain and anguish with the sudden, unexpected, and tragic loss of Ana. Her positive impact on those around her will last a lifetime. Ana, you are, and will, be missed so much.”
Cory Kowitz, a meteorologist at the station, wrote on X that Orsini was “our anchor, a leader of the morning team, and most importantly a great friend to so many at the station.”
“I had the pleasure of working with her during the morning show, even though it was for too short of a time,” he said.
Orsini’s family told KOLD 13 News that they want her to be remembered “for the bright, sunny person she was.”
Her family asked people who want to honor Orsini’s memory to “please donate to your local animal shelter — Ana never met a dog she didn’t love!”