Johnny Danger was like a son to Jacci Matson, who called her his "mama bear".
Ms Matson said the Instagram comedian "made a lot of people happy" including through his visits to sick kids, which he never publicised.
Johnny 'Danger' Bennett was killed after crashing his motorbike near the intersection of Dairy Flat Highway and Hobson Rd at about 2:30pm on Wednesday.
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When Ms Matson heard about the fatal accident on Anzac Day, she went straight to the scene to see whether it was true.
She had known him since he was five years old, as he was close with her son.
"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," she told Stuff.
She said when Bennett was 12 years old, he and her son Jimmy were talking about their future plans and he asked if he could find a job where he could make people laugh.
"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," she told Stuff.
"He had a soft spot for children who were unwell... he liked to keep those things personal to the young kids he was visiting."
The comedian had a large following on social media, with over 287,000 likes on Facebook and 237,000 followers in Instagram.
Police are investigating the cause of the crash.
Newshub.
