5 days ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Anchors and quality personalities person travel and gone, but KSEE24's newest Sunrise and Midday Anchor, Luis Cruz, is coming backmost to the Central Valley with a ngo to animate and service the assemblage that helped him go the writer helium is today.
Born and raised successful San Francisco, Cruz says helium was the youngest of 4 boys, but that didn't halt him from pursuing large things.
From a young age, Cruz says helium was inspired by his parents' curiosity and enactment ethic.
"[My mom] acceptable the TV connected each time and utilized to ticker the news," Cruz said. "My dada was a janitor successful San Francisco, and truthful helium would enactment the nighttime displacement - she would spell done each her notes and say, 'This is what happened successful the satellite today.'"
With the quality bug thoroughly embedded successful him, Cruz took the lessons helium learned from his parents with him each measurement of the mode arsenic helium climbed person and person to his goals.
"I started hosting a teen speech amusement astatine the ABC presumption successful San Francisco close retired of precocious school," helium said. "Then, erstwhile I graduated from UC Berkeley, I started my reporting career."
From Chico to Salinas, Cruz reported passim the authorities earlier yet making his mode to Fresno astatine KSEE24.
"I spent the archetypal twelvemonth successful Fresno reporting successful Fresno, and past I spent astir a twelvemonth and a fractional reporting successful Visalia," Cruz said. "I emotion the information that I was inactive wrong driving region from my parents backmost successful the city. But I besides loved the information that Fresno wasn't a large metropolis and it wasn't a tiny city, it was conscionable close and I inactive consciousness that mode today."
After his archetypal clip successful Fresno, Cruz had to look a situation dissimilar immoderate different he'd faced before.
"I suffered a bosom attack. It's a widowmaker bosom attack, and a batch of radical don't past that," Cruz said.
Cruz says cardiologists inserted 2 stents to unfastened up the clogged artery successful his bosom connected May 9th of 2023. He was released from the infirmary the adjacent day, connected May 10th, and Luis says helium attributes his endurance successful portion to his mother, who had died of a changeable earlier his bosom attack.
"The cardiologist said, 'Someone was looking retired for you,' and I similar to deliberation that my ma was looking retired aft me. Because successful Mexico, Mother's Day is May 10th," Cruz said. "I similar to deliberation that erstwhile I was released from the hospital, she said, 'You know, I emotion you, but it's not your clip yet.'"
The bosom onslaught redirected Cruz, and with adjacent to 30 years successful the quality industry, helium pivoted and started moving for the American Heart Association.
"I worked for the American Heart Association, and, inactive told stories," Cruz said. "But this time, they were stories astir bosom illness and changeable awareness. I got a accidental to conscionable a batch of inspiring volunteers, a batch of inspiring survivors and supporters."
But the quality bug was inactive present, and Cruz felt called to instrumentality to the quality to archer the stories of others who person flooded and who are inactive fighting.
"I've ever been attracted to stories that animate and uplift people, truthful I'm truly looking guardant to having conversations with radical who person flooded challenges and are helping others."
Starting connected Monday, Oct. 27, Cruz volition erstwhile again archer stories connected KSEE24's Sunrise and Midday broadcasts alongside Taryn Mitchell and Ruben Contreras.
