Johnny Danger Bennett crash: He called her 'mama bear', she called him son
Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Jacci Matson had known Johnny 'Danger' Bennett since he was five.
When she heard about the fatal accident she went straight to the scene, half convinced it was another of the comedian's practical jokes.
But it wasn't. Matson couldn't believe Bennett, the man who was always so full of life and who called her 'mama bear' was gone.
'I'm still in shock. I've travelled with him, I've seen him lying here this evening, and I still really don't believe it, because he was so full of life,' she said.
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'Him and my only son were childhood mates from the age of five, and Johnny ended up having a beautiful life with us as well because they became such solid tight friends. That's how I became - and I'm privileged to be called - his mama bear.'
Matson arrived at the crash scene on Old Albany Hill on Dairy Flat Highway, north Auckland, at about 3.30pm on Wednesday.
'I was 30 minutes away from the scene and had heard there had been an accident, and then I heard a second story that we had lost him, and I decided to go to the site, because I needed to know for myself.
'Everything was such a prank with Johnny and I knew we would need someone there to take the word, and if I told the rest of the boys it was true - I was hoping it wouldn't be true - but I knew they would understand and believe it.'
Bennett's younger brother was on the ride, Matson said, and was with him after the accident.
Details of exactly what happened to cause the crash were still hazy. A police spokeswoman said on Wednesday night they were still trying to confirm the identity of the dead man and the cause of the crash.
Emergency crews worked at the scene of the crash for several hours to recover the motorbike, which had gone down a steep ditch.
The motorbike was 15 - 20 metres off the road, about 50 metres from the intersection with Hobson Road.
The scene was just north of Albany township, but the area was rural with trees lining Dairy Flat Highway and the surrounding area.
A fellow motorcyclist, who was riding with Bennett at the time of the crash, said 30 to 50 riders had come together for an Anzac Day ride, and became separated due to traffic.
HE WANTED TO MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH
When Bennett was 12, and he and Matson's son Jimmy were talking about what they wanted to do when they were older, she remembered.
'I asked Johnny what he wanted to do and he said 'I'd like to make people laugh - do you think I could get a job like that?''
Although thousands will remember Bennett for his clownish and stuntman antics - in 2015, he lost his driver's licence and was fined $1000 after filming himself crossing Auckland's Harbour Bridge car-surfing on the roof of a taxi - Matson said he was very bright and more composed than most people realised.
'He had this amazing quality of bringing people together. I remember when the boys were young he would look for the person left on the outskirts and bring them in. He was really good at that.'
As his following on social media grew he would often visit sick fans, she said, but never publicised the visits.
'He had a soft spot for children who were unwell… he liked to keep those things personal to the young kids he was visiting.'
Tributes are flowing to Bennett from all across NZ and beyond, as friends said they were 'lost for words'.
Matson said she would spend the night at the morgue.
'At this time I really need to be strong for a lot of other people, I don't mean to make it sound funny, but it's the job of his mama bear to do that for everyone else.'
'He had such a zest for life, he really made a lot of people happy. He was a very deep soul. You just can't replace Johnny.'