The widows of the Gaudreau brothers speak almost 1 year after a fatal accident: "No goodbye"

The widows of the Hockey Matthew and Johnny Gaudreau players are talking about their pain almost a year after their husbands were killed by an alleged drunk driver.

“He kissed us all, right on the way to enter his parents’ house. And that was the last time I saw him,” Johnny Gaudreau, Meredith Gaudreau, told Abc News.

Johnny Gaudreau, 31, a star from Columbus Blue Jackets, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, former professional hockey player, died on August 29, 2024. The brothers, who were at home in New Jersey for his sister Katie’s wedding, were riding bicycles when they were beaten by a driver suspected of being under the influence of alcohol, according to the police. The suspicious driver was arrested and declared himself innocent of aggravated homicide positions, vehicular homicide, evidence manipulation and abandoning the scene of an accident.

Johnny Gaudreau #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets is heated before a game against Calgary’s flames in Nationwide Arena on October 20, 2023 in Columbus, Ohio.

Ben Jackson/Nhli through Getty Images

Matthew Gaudreau, of the islanders of New York, poses for his official shot for the 2017-2018 season on September 14, 2017 in Unionndale, New York.

Mike Stobe/Nhli through Getty Images

“Our children did not deserve this,” said Meredith. “John and Matty did not even deserve that, especially the way it happened. He keeps me awake at night.”

“There is no healing when you didn’t say goodbye,” said Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline Gaudreau.

At the funeral of the brothers, Meredith said she told her husband “that he would take care of our children and thanked her for such a big life.”

At the time of the death of the brothers, Meredith was a mother for her and the two young children of Johnny.

Madeline and Meredith were also pregnant when their husbands died.

Madeline’s baby, Tripp, was born four months later and Meredith, who announced her pregnancy at the funeral, gave birth to baby Carter eight months after the accident.

Madeline said that at the funeral “Tripp was kicking a lot, so he only held Matt’s hand in my belly for tripp.”

“I didn’t want to say goodbye to any of them because I know I will see them again,” he said.

The extended interview with Meredith and Madeline Gaudreau will be broadcast on “Good Morning America” on August 13, which would have been Johnny Gaudreau’s 32nd birthday.