Yahoo News 9-Year-Old Girl Dead After ‘Freak Accident’ at Motocross Track: 'We Love You Always,' Family Says
Brooke Carlton was riding an electric motorbike “at a track designated for off-road vehicles” when the incident occurred, according to authorities
GoFundMe
Brooke Carlton, 9, who died in what her parents describe as a "freak accident" on Sunday, June 2A 9-year-old girl has died after what her parents described as a “freak accident” at a motocross track in California.
Crews responded to the scene in the 20700 block of Cereal Street at 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, June 2 to find “good Samaritans performing life-saving measures on an unconscious juvenile,” according to a news release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
The child — identified as 9-year-old girl Brooke Carlton of Vista — was riding an electric motorbike “at a track designated for off-road vehicles” when she was hit by another child who was “also riding an off-road motorbike” on the course.
The RCSO said Brooke was transported to Inland Valley Medical Center, where she died later that night.
Brooke had recently started racing motocross in the Southern California area, according to her biography on the Go Fast Girls website.
“Yesterday the good Lord called our dear Brooke Lily to heaven after a freak accident at a local motocross track,” Brooke’s parents Jason and Angie said in a statement shared by family friend Ally Giles via GoFundMe. “Our entire family is still trying to understand why our Brookie, but we firmly believe that God needed her and called her home to be with him.”
They added, “While we take this time to be with our family, PLEASE lift our family into your thoughts and prayers, and hold your loved ones a little tighter for us as we try to navigate through this sudden hurdle in our lives. We love you always and forever Brooke Lily.”
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Lake Elsinore Motorsports Park, where the crash occurred, paid tribute to Brooke on its Instagram page in wake of the deadly incident.
“We are truly sad about the situation,” the company said. “This was such a freak accident as the parent said. This is not a time to bash the track but a time to remember this little girl and support her family.”
They added, “We are a community and we will do our part in supporting the family as well. May you rest in peace Brooke!”
Related: Family Honors 13-Year-Old Son by Asking Others to ‘Be Like Beck’: ‘He Was All About Fun’
Giles described Brooke as “an absolute sweetheart that could brighten anyone’s day with her warm smile and bright blonde halo of curls,” as well as “a total spitfire that knew what she wanted and there was no way of getting around it.”
“She loved her parents. She loved her dog Gunner. She loved her grandparents. She loved her brother Landon the most,” Giles wrote in the description of the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
The second child involved in the crash “was treated at the scene for minor injuries,” according to the RCSO. An investigation into the crash is ongoing.
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