College Sports
‘John and Matty didn’t deserve that.’ Gaudreau brothers’ widows reflect on devastating loss in GMA interview.
The widows of hockey star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew shared memories of their husbands and spoke about the heartbreak of losing them during an interview with Good Morning America this week.
The brothers were struck and killed by an alleged drunken driver as they bicycled along a rural road in Salem County last August, the day before their sister’s wedding.
The widows spoke with GMA about the night their husbands were killed.
“John and Matty didn’t deserve that, especially the way it happened,” said Johnny’s wife, Meredith Gaudreau.
“There’s no healing when you didn’t get a goodbye,” said Madeline Gaudreau, Matthew’s wife, as she fought back tears.
The deaths shook the local community and the international hockey world.
Johnny Gaudreau played 11 seasons in the NHL, while Matthew Gaudreau was a college hockey player and later a coach.
Snippets of the interview with their widows aired on the ABC program Tuesday morning. An extended interview is set to air on GMA Wednesday, which would have been Johnny Gaudreau’s 32nd birthday.
Both couples were expecting when the brothers were killed.
Madeline announced the birth of their first son, Tripp Matthew, last December.
Meredith announced that the couple’s third son, Carter Michael Gaudreau, was born April 1.
Sean M. Higgins, 44, of Pilesgrove, is charged with aggravated manslaughter, reckless vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the Aug. 29 crash in Oldmans Township.
He’s due back in court next week.
Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau have launched a foundation that will support causes important to the late brothers.
The John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation will promote and expand youth ice hockey opportunities, help hockey families facing tragedies and assist families affected by drunk driving, the women announced earlier this year.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
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