NY1 News anchor Ruschell Boone died on Sunday, Sept. 3, after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.
The award-winning news anchor was just 48 years old.
Boone, who was fully vaccinated, described her symptoms in an interview with “In Focus” anchor Cheryl Wills on NY1 in 2022.
“I just wasn’t feeling well in my stomach,” Boone said. “I was taking some antacids for a few months and it would go away but my stomach just kind of felt uneasy,” she said.
“There was a mild pain that was on the inside, but it wasn’t in the front. It was, like, in the core of my body… and I just thought ‘This isn’t right.’ So I went to the emergency room. And then I had high blood pressure out of nowhere…”
Boone said she was stunned when the ER doctors told her they saw a tumor on a scan. “When the doctor first said it, my first thought was ‘Oh, my God, I am dead.'”
Boone documented her cancer journey on her Instagram page. In a video dated Feb. 20, 2023, she said, “I’m so over the moon! This is my last chemo. Oh, my god. I made it. I made it! Thank you for all the prayers everybody. I felt them, I needed them. You all have been so amazing. I couldn’t have done this whole thing without your support.”
A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Boone joined NY1 as a reporter in 2002. She moved to the anchor desk in 2021.
NY1 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.”
Over the course of her career, Boone won numerous awards, including a New York Press Club award for best feature reporting and a New York Emmy award for her series “New York: Unfiltered.”
Boone leaves behind her husband, Todd, and their 2 minor sons.
