Wes Rucker, a popular sports reporter from Tennessee, has tragically died in a car accident, leaving behind his pregnant wife and young son.
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On Thursday, Knoxville police responded to a five-vehicle crash on I-40 West around 4:50 p.m. local time, the department confirmed in a news release. Authorities reported one fatality, and the victim was identified as 43-year-old sports reporter Wes Rucker by local outlet WBIR, where he worked.
According to the initial report, the crash occurred after one vehicle “stopped for traffic” and was “rear-ended by another.” This first collision resulted in “minor damage.”
“Another vehicle then struck the second vehicle, setting off a chain reaction. Seconds later, a large pickup truck ran into and on top of an involved vehicle, fatally injuring the adult male driver of the vehicle it collided with,” the report detailed.
In a tribute to their late colleague, WBIR remembered Rucker as “a longtime and deeply familiar voice in Tennessee Athletics coverage.”
“Above all, his greatest joy was his family: his wife, Lauren; his son, Hank; his corgi, Gus; and the baby girl he and Lauren are eagerly expecting this spring,” the tribute added.
Rucker focused on covering sports at the University of Tennessee in his work. WBIR also remembered him as a devoted fan of the Chicago Cubs, Arsenal Football Club, and the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Soccer Teams.
Lauren, his wife, expressed her gratitude to the many supporters who have shared their condolences, WBIR reported. “She wants everyone to know what an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, and friend he was.”
GoFundMe Established for Wes Rucker’s Young Family
A GoFundMe organized by Rucker’s family and shared by WBIR has raised more than $283,000 of its $350,000 goal as of this writing.
“It is with immense heartbreak that we share the sudden loss of our beloved Wes Rucker. Words cannot fully express the pain our family is experiencing. Wes was a devoted husband, father, son, brother, uncle, cousin, and so much more whose greatest joy in life was family – especially his pride and joys – his wife Lauren, Hank, and precious baby girl on the way,” the fundraiser’s page reads.
The GoFundMe added that Rucker “did not currently have a life insurance policy,” writing, “All funds raised will go directly toward the ongoing needs of Lauren and the kids in this time of transition and uncertainty.”