Former Humboldt Bronco Layne Matechuk (Carley Matechuk/Facebook)

By Ben Tompkins

Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association

Former Bronco and family taking part in Brain walk in Saskatoon

Sep 13, 2025 | 11:05 AM

A member of the 2017/18 Humboldt Broncos and his family will be walking to support the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association this weekend.

Layne Matechuk, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in the tragic bus crash back in April of 2018, will be taking part in the Brain Boogie in Saskatoon on Sunday.

“I actually first walked in it in 2018 when Layne was still in the hospital, and our life just got busy after that, but we always talked about doing it again. It’s a great cause, and we really feel that there’s a lack of support in the province for people with brain injuries,” explained Layne’s father, Kevin. “Our daughter Carley brought it up, so we talked to the family, and we all thought that it would be a great thing to do. She then set the fundraising target of $2,800, and we’ve blown well past that, so we’re pretty excited about it.”

“Our main goal is just to increase the support for people with brain injuries and have places for them to go and people to talk to. We just want to open more avenues up for people with brain injuries, that’s really our main goal of the fundraising.”

So far, over $5,000 has been raised by ‘Believe 28’ for the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association by the Matechuk family.

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Believe 28 is a sentimental saying for the family, as they used former coach Darcy Haugan’s ‘believe’ core value and added Layne’s number 28.

“The whole team had to believe in a goal in order to have a better chance of achieving the goal. A close friend got t-shirts made that said Believe 28 on them, and they helped to raise funds for Layne and our family, and it just carried on. It’s just kind of a sign of support for Layne and people with brain injuries, so we’re all going to be wearing our shirts on Sunday,” Kevin added.

“There’s more money to come that people said that they were going to be donating, so we’re pretty thrilled with all the support we’re getting from friends and family, and it’s going to a great cause… if anybody’s able to come and walk and support the organization, there’s still time.”

Layne will be walking in it with both his mom and dad, his girlfriend, his sister, her fiancé and their kids, his girlfriend, and some aunts and uncles, as well as other close friends.

The thought is that there will be a group of about 20 of them, with the walk beginning at 11 a.m. in Victoria Park.

The hope for the future is that this will become a recurring thing for the family, something they do yearly to help the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association and gain more supporters.

“It’s just kind of to create awareness of brain injuries in general and support the Saskatchewan Brain Injury Association with funds they use to help people and their families who deal with it. With our son’s injury, we found that there could be a lot more support for people who have brain injuries in our province, and we’re just going to do what we can to try and help support the organization,” Kevin concluded.

“Layne is doing very well. We’re more than seven years post-accident, but we still see improvements from him all the time. He recently moved to Humboldt with his girlfriend, and he’s working at Sobey’s now, so that’s new for us, but it’s a sign of improvement. He’s got a ways to go, but he’s sure come way further than we ever thought he would improve, so we’re all proud of him.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8