‘Our kids didn’t deserve this’
The widows of hockey player brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau opened up about their grief in an emotional interview nearly one year after their husbands were killed by an alleged drunk driver in New Jersey.
In an interview with ABC News, Madeline Gaudreau, the widow of Matthew, and Meredith Gaudreau, the widow of ex-NHLer Johnny recalled their final messages to the brothers at their funeral, which took place last September in Media, Pa.
“Our kids didn’t deserve this,” Meredith said through tears. “John and Matty didn’t even deserve that, especially the way it happened. There is no healing when you didn’t get a goodbye. It keeps me up at night.”
Meredith said she promised to take care of their kids — daughter Noa, 2, and sons, Johnny, 1, and Carter, born in April 2025 — when she said her final goodbye to Johnny at his funeral.
“I thanked him for such a great life,” she recalled.
Meredith announced last September she was expecting her third child during a eulogy at the brothers’ funeral.
She welcomed Carter on April 1, seven months after the tragic death of the former Blue Jackets forward.
“There is no healing when you didn’t get a goodbye,” said Madeline, who wiped away her tears.
Madeline was pregnant with her and Matthew’s first child, Tripp Matthew, when he died. She welcomed their son last December.
“I can’t even remember, maybe I was four months pregnant that the time,” Madeline recalled. “Tripp was kicking a lot, so I just held Matt’s hand on my belly for Tripp. I didn’t want to say goodbye to either of them because I know I will see them again one day.”
Madeline and Meredith’s full interview with ABC News will air during “Good Morning America” on Wednesday, which would have been Johnny’s 32nd birthday.
“He kissed all of us goodbye — just in the driveway at his parents’ house, and that was the last time I saw him,” Meredith said of that last time she saw Johnny before his death.
Johnny and Matthew were killed when they were struck by a suspected drunk driver while cycling on a rural road in Salem County, N.J., on the eve of their sister Katie’s wedding on Aug. 29, 2024.
Johnny was 31 and Matthew was 28.
The driver, Sean Higgins, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated manslaughter, vehicular homicide, evidence tampering and leaving the scene of an accident.
Katie canceled her original wedding following the tragedy, and married her high school sweetheart, Devin Joyce, at The Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia last month.
Meredith and Madeline launched the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation in March to promote and expand youth ice hockey opportunities, help hockey families facing tragedies as well as help families that are also affected by drunk driving.
The pair said they dreamed of the idea while they were still in the funeral home.
Credit to Nypost AND Peoples
