GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A GoFundMe site has been established to help with funeral expenses for two little girls killed in a car crash Thursday night. 

Juliana Rose Heffron, 3, and Natalie Mae Heffron, 1, died when their dad allegedly lost control of his vehicle on 18 Mile Road east of Harvard Avenue near Cedar Springs.

The accident happened amid torrential rain and minutes before a potential tornado bore down on the area, according to witnesses.   

Kent County Sheriff’s deputies said Juliana and Natalie were strapped in car seats at the time of the crash.    

“They were the sweetest babies and will be very missed by all of us,” wrote the organizer of the GoFundMe post, who’s the best friend of the girls’ mom.   

“Juliana was so outgoing and had a great personality, she loved to be outside with all the neighborhood kids,” the post continued. “Natalie was the sweetest baby, was always happy and was obsessed with frozen waffles in the morning. We are making a GoFundMe for the girls mom that is deeply in pain and should not have the financial burden of laying her two babies to rest. No parent should ever have to go through this. If you can help this momma, it would be greatly appreciated.”  

Kent County sheriff’s deputies reported the car carrying the girls was eastbound on 18 Mile Road when it crossed the center line and slammed into a westbound SUV. 

Witnesses said first responders arrived on the scene within seven minutes and worked to try to save the girls’ lives, but both were ultimately pronounced dead. 

The girls’ dad, whose name has not been released by deputies, was transported to a hospital with serious injuries. 

The driver of the westbound SUV, a 42-year-old Sparta man, received minor injuries, according to the Kent County Sheriff’s Department.  

Also killed in the collision was the dad’s girlfriend, Karissah Kleynenberg, 21, of Gowen. Kleynenberg was not the girls’ mother, though her family told News 8 she adored the girls and their father. 

As of early Sunday morning, the GoFundMe for Juliana and Natalie’s burial expenses had raised over $6,800.

“I am so profoundly blown away and appreciate all of the empathy,” Sue LaBine, the girls’ grandmother, said. “You don’t plan for this. You can’t possibly imagine this happening.”   

While LaBine is grateful for the support, she hopes the fund will continue to grow. 

“Those girls deserve to have the most beautiful caskets, not the bare minimum,” LaBine said. “I would like them to have much better than that.” 

But what she wants most of all is to wake up from this nightmare.

“Just bring me the girls back,” she said, her voice breaking. “But that’s never gonna happen.”