This past week our little community of Oldmans Township was shattered by the news that NHL star forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed on Pennsville-Auburn Road by a suspected drunk driver. The news seeped out slowly, as it often does with events involving well-known individuals. Thursday night we heard about the crash. It was featured on the 11 o’clock news on Channel 6. But no names had been released. Overnight there were some hinting that they heard who was killed, but that they would not say out of respect for the family. By morning it was announced that the two cyclists who had been killed were Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.
Apart from being known in the NHL (playing for the Columbus Blue Jackets and, before that, the Calgary Flames), Johnny was a bit of a local hero as well, having been raised in nearby Carneys Point Township. His autographed picture hangs in the local eatery, Roman Pantry, proudly displaying his first NHL goal in 2014. I’ve seen the picture often, but to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know Johnny Gaudreau or his brother, Matthew. I’ve heard since the accident that Matthew also coached junior hockey, that Johnny played at Boston College (no small college to play hockey at), that Johnny was an All-Star, and played on the USA Hockey team at the Olympics. The reaction of the sports world to these deaths tells the tale — Johnny Hockey was beloved and respected, a player with over 740 points in just over 760 games. The player who assisted Jaromir Jagr on his final NHL goal. A small, speedy forward with exceptional puck-handling skills and a quick wrist shot.
But this story is eclipsed by another, one that permeates every part of Oldmans Township where this accident occurred. Both of these young men were well loved and respected in their hometown of Carneys Point. They were both considered local heroes of Salem County, the smallest county in New Jersey population-wise, an odd-shaped red county in the sea of blue New Jersey politics. We know the road they were on. The “shoulder,” if it can be called that, is a mere 6 inches wide at best. I’ve ridden bicycles on these roads, and I prefer not to. I can only imagine, here are these two boys out for a ride, both athletes, both preparing for their sister’s wedding the following day, wanting to let off some steam and get a workout in on Salem’s inadequate farm roads.
There’s another character in this story. His name is Sean Higgins. Again, a man I did not know, whose name I had not heard prior to Friday morning. But a man in our community no less. Driving under the influence and driving erratically, to hear the witnesses testify. Tried to pass two cars on Pennsville/Auburn Road in the early dusk, in a hurry, trying to get home. That road bends to the right just before Stumpy Lane where the accident occurred. According to police, he admitted to having five to six beers that night. He passed the first car, and the second car slid over. He thought they were trying to block him, not knowing that they moved over to give passage to the two cyclists on the side. In a rage he pulled his car back around to pass on the right, and tragedy occurred.
The Gaudreau family is no doubt destroyed in this one incredibly tragic instant. Johnny was thirty-one years old. Matthew was twenty-nine. Both had families, wives. Johnny with two small children, Matthew with one on the way. It pains me even to write this, to think of the shattered lives. They could have been my kids. They’re younger than my two oldest at 33 and 31. I think about their parents — probably my age. What they went through to take the boys to hockey practice at Holly-Dell arena, a half-hour drive from here by back roads. Day in, day out. And now, both of them are gone. Gone in an instant and in a moment of heartbreakingly bad decisions on the part of one man.
A woman approached me after the service this morning. I lifted up the Gaudreau family in prayer for their tragic loss. But I also lifted up Sean Higgins, whose life has been turned upside down by this tragic accident. He, too, had a wife and children. He’s facing 10 years in prison, and most of the talk around here has been that it’s not enough. But this woman thanked me for lifting prayers for Sean. We are all sinners, and at any moment we may find ourselves in the same situation, God help us.
Repentance might make Sean Higgins right with God, but it won’t bring back those boys. Forgiveness may be offered by the Gaudreau family, but he’s still got a debt he owes to society, which will be announced at the end of his trial.
When this kind of thing happens in a small tight-knit community like Salem County, it’s hard not to see and witness the lives that are touched. The woman who thanked me for lifting Sean in prayer said she’s known him a long time, that he was always known as a good kid. He was also a counselor in a drug and alcohol treatment center. That’s ironic. As a recovering alcoholic and addict it reminds me that even now, after 30 years clean and sober, I need to remain vigilant. There, but for the grace of God, go I.
What it all boils down to is this. The headlines tell the story of the tragic death of Johnny Hockey and his brother, at the hands of a road-raging drunk driver. I remind us all, these stories have layers of stories beneath, behind, and all around them. A shattered glass was once a glass and we gave it no mind until it hit the floor in a moment of violence. This tragic accident reminds us of the fragility and preciousness of life, and that we are not promised tomorrow. I pray that as a community we can heal from this deep wound, and though the scar may always be there, we can know life after, and continue to live our own lives one day at a time.
S.D.G.
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