CNN anchors break down on air over Ananda Lewis’ last message

Sara Sidner from CNN and Stephanie Elam cry the death of their friend Ananda Lewis.

The two journalists paid tribute to the late MTV VJ, who died on Wednesday following a prolonged battle against breast cancer, during a CNN segment on Thursday.

“My beautiful friend, mother, sister and daughter died after years of life with breast cancer,” said Sidner before introducing a clip of a October 2024 conversation that she had with Lewis about them who both received diagnostics of stadium breast cancer.

“I took the traditional way of a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation. Ananda decided not to against the double mastectomy and I decided to take a different treatment path,” said Sidner.

The network then released an extract from their conversation, in which Lewis said: “I decided to keep my tumor and try to work on my body in a different way.”

After the end of the clip, Sidner presented Elam, who said that she had visited her longtime friend Lewis a few hours before her death.

“I led to be with her and held her hand, and I told her how much I love her,” said Elam. “Two -thirds of my life, it was my walk or die.”

Elam then explained that she planned to visit Lewis after her broadcast on Wednesday, but the older sister of MTV’s personality informed her that her friend had died. “I’m so happy to have been able to go the day before,” she said.

Elam also shared parts of one of Lewis’ last text messages.

“She said things had taken a different turn from what she would have liked. It is part of the text she sent me,” she started. “She says:” You know my feelings about it: we all go there. These bodies are loaned and must be returned. We have just left it with love too. “And then she would continue to say in another part of this one:” I love you my wonderful best best life of besties. “”

The journalist stressed that Lewis had accepted his choice. “She was at peace with this decision,” said Elam. “She was calm about it. She wanted to go after breast cancer as she did, and I like my daughter, but she was hard. She wanted to do it in her own way, despite the fact that so many of us close to her wanted us to try the way you did it, right? But that’s what she wanted to do, and she was totally in peace.”

Sidner, who forced tears throughout the segment, greeted the generosity of Lewis. “She was always trying to help people get through things herself, whether it was something funny like your skin care, your skin routine or, you know, repairing your home,” she recalls. “She was incredible.”

Elam then vulnerably reflected in the confusion and pain of its mourning process. “She was my practice. I mean, she repaired everything for me,” she said that she was visibly emotional. “I look around, I say to myself:” How will I do these things? “There are so many things that I don’t understand.

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Elam has also said that Lewis’ death testifies to the importance of proactively looking for medical tests and making the most of your situation.

“I am so proud of her to be open and honest and courageous to have this conversation, because if she encouraged someone to go there and to have her mammograms tested, to test, do all the tests-,” she said. “I know it’s frightening and uncomfortable, but please do it. Save a life. Be here. Dampere. That’s what people wanted to know, and that’s what I want people to know too.”

Look at the complete conversation between Sidner and Elam above.