A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family of a Kentucky girl who was killed on her 9th birthday in a freak bicycle accident.
The Louisville Courier Journal reports Charlene Preslee-Kay Sipes hit a curb while riding her bicycle near her home in Hodgenville, about 75 miles southeast of Louisville. When she fell, a lever on the handlebar hit her neck and severed an artery, police reportedly said. She died at the scene.
"This isn't supposed to be real. It's supposed to be a dream. Im going to wake up and it's all a nightmare. My beautiful baby. My smart and loving and funny baby," Charlene's mother, Tiffany Fischer, wrote on Facebook. "She was so funny. She loved to laugh. She loved to make other people laugh. She had the stars in her eyes and such big dreams."
According to an obituary, Charlene is survived by her parents, grandparents, great-grandmother, a sister and three brothers.
A GoFundMe page titled "In Memory of Charlie" has raised more than $10,000 as of Saturday, well over the original goal of $2,000.
"Nothing can replace the loss of a child but if you can give anything so this family can just focus on grieving, it would make an immense difference. Thank you!" the fundraiser reads.