Jenkins added: “She saved both my daughters’ lives. These are my two kids that I have and both of them could’ve been gone in an instant and she stepped in and took over and did what she knows best to do—and that’s to protect those around her.”
Jenkins and fiance Jonathan Gusich said they'll never be able to repay her.
“She was a big sister to them. She was always looking out for them and apparently she gave her life for my kids,” Gusich told FOX5. “I don’t know how to repay them, repay her. She must have been the guardian angel yesterday and they’re here because of her.”
A GoFundMe account was set up for Kiera’s family, and more than $39,000 has been raised as of Thursday afternoon. “Please donate any amount that you can for funeral expenses. Every dollar helps,” it stated.
A CHP officer on the scene also described her as a hero.
“A child died heroically, I mean if you think about it, she sacrificed herself for another small child,” CHP Officer Kevin Pearlstein told FOX5.
He added that police are “going to do an inspection on the vehicle, find out why this happened, find out if there was some sort of malfunction on the vehicle and go from there.”
