TYLER, Texas — A longtime Tyler radio personality is in extreme critical condition and has suffered a severe brain injury after he was struck by a vehicle Tuesday morning.
KTBB radio news announcer John Sims, who has served in East Texas radio for over 43 years, was involved in a wreck that happened around 8 a.m. in the area of W. Front St. and S. Bonner Ave., near Wendy's, according to police and KTBB owner Paul Gleiser.
Gleiser said Sims is in extreme critical condition at a Tyler hospital and suffered a severe brain injury in the wreck that he is not expected to recover from.
"It doesn't look good," Gleiser said. "We're heartbroken about what's happened to him. He's a kind and gentle soul."
Sims is a native of Philadelphia who has spent over 45 years in radio, according to the KTBB biography.
Over the years, he has been very active in local causes, including being a past president of Leadership Tyler and the Smith County Community Partnership Council (a citizen group that works with the state parole division). He is the chairman emeritus for the Tyler Together Race Relations Forum, the biography states.
He is also active in the League of Women Voters, the March of Dimes, the Tyler Church and Community Network and East Texas Wheelers and Walkers (a fellowship and advocacy group for people with spinal cord injuries), according to KTBB.