Lisa Colagrossi, NYC TV Reporter, Dead at 49 After Brain Hemorrhage
Lisa Colagrossi, a reporter for Eyewitness News on WABC-TV/Channel 7 in New York, died Friday at age 49 following a brain hemorrhage, according to officials at the television station.
Colagrossi collapsed suddenly on Thursday after finishing her reports from a Queens house fire for Eyewitness News This Morning. She was the passenger in a news van headed back to the station, and the photographer with her quickly flagged down an ambulance, which rushed her to Presbyterian Hospital on the Upper East Side. She never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on Friday.
Colagrossi joined WABC-TV a few days after the World Trade Center disaster in September of 2001, and has been covering major news stories in the tri-state area ever since, from the crash of Flight 587 in the Rockaways to Hurricane Sandy. She has also been a substitute anchor on various Eyewitness News programs, and was part of the broadcast team for the Columbus Day Parade on Channel 7. Most recently, she has been a reporter for the Eyewitness News programs in the morning and at noon.
Also Read: Stan Chambers, Longtime KTLA Reporter, Dead at 91
Before joining WABC-TV, Colagrossi was a main news anchor for WKMG-TV in Orlando, Florida. She began her journalism career at WKYC-TV in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, before reporting for stations in West Virginia and Alabama. She is the winner of several local Emmy awards and nominations, and the recipient of numerous awards from the Florida Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists.
“Lisa Colagrossi embodied the Eyewitness News spirit- a straightforward reporter who told the truth, empathetic to the everyday citizens of the New York area, and demanding of those in power,” said Dave Davis, president and GM of WABC-TV. ”All of us in the Channel 7 family are in shock over her sudden death. Our attention is now focused on helping her husband and two children though this difficult time.”
“Lisa will be terribly missed,” added Camille Edwards, news director at Channel 7. “Her bright smile and big blue eyes lit up our newsroom. She was a reporter with two wonderful qualities: grace and grit. Her Eyewitness News family is overwhelmed with grief right now. Our hearts are truly broken.”
Colagrossi was a resident of Stamford, Connecticut, where she was a proud hockey Mom. She is survived by her husband Todd and two sons, ages 11 and 14.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Lisa Colagrossi, NYC TV Reporter, Dead at 49 After Brain Hemorrhage
'Insurgent' Takes in $21 Million at Friday Box Office, Eyes $50 Million
When 'Glee' Was Great: Looking Back at Fox's Pop Culture Phenom
Solve the daily Crossword
