Anthony Causi
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Anthony Causi, a beloved New York Post sports photographer, died this week at 48 from COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. In the wake of his death, his family, friends, and professional athletes whom he photographed have been celebrating his life and work.
“Anthony Causi was our colleague, our friend, and a brilliant journalist,” New York Post editor-in-chief Stephen Lynch said in the Post’s obituary for Causi. “He was, quite simply, one of the best sports photographers in New York City, capturing all the major moments of the past 25 years. Soft-spoken, funny, but most of all kind — he was respected by those he photographed and admired by those with whom he worked. The Post that you read, and the newsroom that we work in, are less colorful today because of his absence.”
Causi had been in Florida for about two months covering MLB spring training. Not long after coming back to New York, he was diagnosed with COVID-19, his family said. He died April 12 in a New York hospital.
“After days of struggling, he was hospitalized. Anthony was a fighter, he kicked ass, and did his very best, but after weeks of intubation, he lost the fight,” Causi’s niece Amanda Vitale, who organized a GoFundMe for his family, wrote on the page.
Later, in a phone call with BuzzFeed News, Vitale said Causi had diabetes, putting him at a higher risk for the disease. Causi and his wife, Romina, had two young children, John, who is 5, and Mia, who is 2.
The GoFundMe for his family raised nearly $170,000 in just two days. “Our family is SPEECHLESS with the momentum this has received and the generosity. We love you all,” Vitale wrote this week.
On Wednesday, Vitale shared Romina’s first statement since her husband’s death.
“This nightmare is a reality that I NEVER will be able to accept,” Romina wrote on Facebook. “There are so many things I want to say and so many of you that I want to thank. The magnitude of love, support and generosity is unimaginable. My husband was and will FOREVER be LARGER THAN LIFE. This can’t be real!!!”
Romina said she would make sure their two young children knew “the incredible man” her husband was with the help of their family and friends.
“I love you so much and wish this wasn’t real!!” she wrote. “I sincerely and truly thank EVERYONE for ALL of your calls, texts, messages, generosity, support, EVERYTHING!! I just wish there was a way my children and I could have him back.”
Vitale, his niece, called him “uncomfortably humble.”
“He did everything out of the kindness of his heart. He never bragged,” she told BuzzFeed News. “All he wanted was to just make people happy.”
She also said the family has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support since Causi’s death.
Addy Baird is a political reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC.
Contact Addy Baird at [email protected]
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