In the weeks after Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were killed in a tragic bike accident, even the smallest tasks for their family felt Herculean.
“We could barely get out of bed in the morning and take a shower,” Jane Gaudreau, mother of the late Johnny and Matthew, exclusively told Us Weekly.
Johnny, 31, and Matthew, 29, were killed in August 2024 when an alleged drunk driver hit them with his vehicle in Oldmans Township, New Jersey on the night before their younger sister, Katie, was supposed to get married.
“We didn’t just lose the boys that night,” Katie told Us. “We lost the boys and my parents. Losing a child is something that nobody should ever have to go through.”
Months after Johnny and Matthew died, it was suggested that a 5K be organized to raise money in the brothers’ honor — but Jane knew they’d need help.
“Our friend said, ‘We’ll do everything for you, just let us know,’” Jane recalled. “‘If you’re not ready to be involved, maybe you could just come to the 5K.’ We thought, ‘That would be great because at the funeral, there were so many people that came to see us that we don’t really remember.’ So we thought, ‘OK, that would be a great way to see them and it would be under happier terms.’”
The 5K was held in May 2025 and raised over $500,000 to build an accessible playground at the special education school where Jane and her oldest daughter, Kristen, work.
Given the fundraiser’s success, the family is going even bigger this year with the 2nd Annual Gaudreau Family 5K Run/Walk & Family Day, which will be held May 16 at Washington Lake Park in Sewell, New Jersey. This year’s event will benefit the newly established Gaudreau Family Foundation, created to honor the enduring legacies of the brothers.
“I don’t think people throughout the hockey world — throughout South Jersey to Columbus to Calgary — I don’t think they realize how much they did for us,” Jane said. “By them talking to us and bringing them into their world and seeing what they could do for us or how they could help keep John and Matty’s legacies alive, they just helped us so much with our grief.”
The fundraiser also provides the opportunity for supporters to participate and get involved virtually, which Katie said shows the widespread influence her brothers had all over the world.
“This is a tragedy that I would never wish on my worst enemy,” she said. “Because of the support that we’ve gotten from everybody — not just in the United States and North America, but the people in different countries who have reached out — telling stories about the boys and the impact they’ve made, it really helped us to heal and to continue to heal.”
Jane echoed her daughter’s heartfelt sentiment, saying, “I don’t think they realized how much they’ve helped our family, just continuing to talk about John and Matty and wanting to be part of our lives.
“We’ll get letters in the mail, sometimes I’m not even sure how,” she continued. “I’ll have to ask Katie or Kristen, ‘Where did this come through?’ People will say, ‘We’re so impressed with how your family gets along, your family union.’ There’s just so many people. Hockey families are like that.”
A raffle of gift baskets, online merchandise sales, and more will help raise additional funds for the Foundation’s mission.
To learn more about the 2nd Annual Gaudreau Family 5K Run/Walk and Family Day, to sponsor, or to register, visit www.runsignup.com/GaudreauFamily5K.
