Why did 48-year-old Ruschell Boone die? Here are the details

Ruschell Boone, the award-winning reporter and presenter of the New York City TV channel NY1, has passed away after battling pancreatic cancer.

Boone, 48, died Sunday, NY1 said in a news release.

Boone joined the entire news channel in 2002 as a reporter covering the borough of Queens and moved to the noon news desk in 2021.

The station, now owned by Charter Communications, said Boone “had a unique ability to connect with New Yorkers — through the screen and in person — in a way that made her feel like a trusted friend.”

Boone was the only TV reporter at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic primary party in June 2018, where she learned from early returns that the underdog candidate was about to upset incumbent U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley. “I can’t put it into words,” the soon-to-be Congressman told Boone on live TV.

Boone has won many awards throughout his career, including a New York Press Club award for best reporting and a New York Emmy for the series “New York: Unfiltered.”

After his cancer diagnosis, Boone took a leave of absence from NY1 from June 2022 until March of this year for a grueling series of chemotherapy treatments.

However, on July 27, he announced on social media that his cancer was getting worse. “Unfortunately, my cancer metastasized to my liver and I returned to treatment” Boone wrote on his old Twitter account, X. “It’s hard, but chemotherapy works.”

He added, “Prayers carried me through difficult moments. Thank you for supporting me.”

When he returned to NY1 in March, his first interview was with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who paid tribute to the station on Tuesday.

“We are all better people because we had a wonderful, wonderful person who reported to us and showed us that no matter how much pain you are in, you can turn it into a cause” Adams said. “You never saw him frown. He didn’t say, ‘Shame on me.’ He said, ‘Why not me. I want to inspire others.'”

Boone’s survivors include her husband, Todd Boone, and two sons.