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8:00. TALITHA: TONIGHT, A WILKES COUNTY FAMILY IS SHARING THEIR HEARTBREAK FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. KENNY: TWO YOUNG SISTERS DIED IN A HEAD-ON CRASH LAST WEEK. THEIR MOTHER SAYS SHE DROPPED TO HER KNEES AND BEGGED GOD TO TAKE HER INSTEAD. TALITHA: KIRSTEN GUTIERREZ IS IN WILKES COUNTY, WITH MORE ON HOW AN OUTPOURING OF LOVE IS HELPING THE FAMILY COPE WITH THIS TERRIBLE LOSS. KIRSTEN CASSIE AND MADDIE WERE : ON THEIR WAY TO THEIR FAMILY STORE HERE ON SPARTA ROAD LESS THAN A MILE AWAY WHEN THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT HAPPENED. >> THEY WERE SO KIND. OUR LIVES ARE DESTROYED. KIRSTEN: ON THURSDAY, STATE HIGHWAY PATROL SAYS CASSIE WAS DRIVING NORTH ON SPARTA ROAD NEAR PAINTER LANE WHEN SHE WAS TRYING TO GET AROUND A SCHOOL BUS AND HIT A PICKUP TRUCK HEAD-ON. CASSIE’S YOUNGEST BROTHER WAS IN THE SCHOOL BUS SHE PASSED. >> HE CALLED AND SAID, HE WAS JUST SCREAMING, HE SAID, ’MOM THERE’S BEEN A WRECK AND I THINK IT’S CASSI.’ I SAID SON WHERE ARE YOU AT AND HE SAID ABOUT A MILE BELOW THE STORES AND I JUST JUMPED UP AND RAN. KIRSTEN WHEN THE GIRL’S MOTHER : ANGELA GILBERT ARRIVED, IT WAS TOO LATE. >> MY CASSIE BETH WAS ALREADY GONE. SHE WAS ALREADY GONE. I’M SORRY. BUT MY MADDIE WAS BREATHING, AND I TOUCHED HER, AND I GOT DOWN ON MY KNEES AND I PRAYED FOR GOD TO TAKE ME AND NOT TAKE MY BABY. KIRSTEN: THE 16-YEAR-OLD AND 12-YEAR-OLD TAKEN FAR TOO SOON. >> ANYWHERE CASSIE WENT MADDIE WANTED TO GO ANYWHERE, SO IT WAS ONLY FITTING THAT THEY WENT TOGETHER. KIRSTEN: SINCE THE ACCIDENT THE GILBERT FAMILY HAS BEEN SURROUNDED BY LOVE, THEY THANK THE COMMUNITY FOR THE OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT >> HELPED US THROUGH STUFF THAT NOBODY SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THROUG WITHOUT THEM AND ALL THE PRAYER AND GOD’S GRACE WE WOULDN’T BE HERE. WE COULDN’T DO IT. KIRSTEN: CASSIE GILBERT’S PROM IS THIS SATURDAY, SHE FOUND WHAT SHE CALLED A BLUE CINDERELLA DRESS, AND HER FAMILY THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY FITTING THAT SHE BE BURIED IN IT. THE GILBERT SISTERS WERE LAID TO REST THIS PAST WEEKEND, BUT THEIR FAMILY SAYS THEIR MEMORY WILL LIVE ON FOREVER. IN WILKES COUNTY, KIRSTEN TO TEAR IS, -- KIRSTEN GUTIERREZ, WXII 12 NEWS. KENNY: THERE IS A GO-FUND-ME PAGE SET UP TO HELP THE FAMILY WITH FUNERAL EXPENSES. PEOPLE HAVE AL

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The family of the two young girls killed in a head-on crash last week in Wilkes County is opening up about their loved ones. Cassie Gilbert, 16, and her sister Maddie, 12, were heading to their family’s store Thursday when the accident happened. The Gilbert General Store, where the two helped after school, remains closed as the family continues to grieve the tragic loss of two of their own.“You never know when they leave you if they’re coming home,” the girls' mother, Angela Gilbert, said. WXII’s Kirsten Gutierrez sat down with the family Tuesday for an exclusive interview for the first time since the accident about how the family is coping with such a terrible loss. “They were kind. Our lives are destroyed,” Angela Gilbert said. State Highway Patrol said Cassie was driving north on Sparta Road near Painter Lane Thursday evening when she tried to get around a school bus and hit a pickup truck head-on.Angela Gilbert said her youngest son -- the girls' brother -- was in the school bus Cassie passed.“He called and said, he was just screaming, he said, ‘Mom there’s been a wreck and I think it’s Cassie.’ I said, ‘Son, where are you at?’ and he said, ‘About a mile below the store.’ And I just jumped up and ran,” Angela Gilbert said. When she arrived, it was too late. “My Cassie Beth was already gone. She was already gone. I’m sorry... but my Maddie was breathing, and I touched her, and I got down on my knees and I prayed for God to take me and not take my baby,” Angela Gilbert said. “I know they did everything they could for my Maddie, but my Cassie was already gone. Jesus had already taken her home. But my precious Maddie was still breathing, and I know they worked so hard to save her, but God needed them more than me.”Family and friends say the Gilbert sisters were taken far too soon but they are glad they were together.“Anywhere Cassie went Maddie wanted to go anywhere, so it was only fitting that they went together,” sister, Alexandra Gilbert said. “He took away the two that there was no doubt about them getting into heaven, there’s no doubt that they’re up there.”Since the tragic accident, the Gilbert family has been surrounded by love. They thank the community for the outpouring of support and financial help. “Helped us through stuff that nobody should ever have to go through,” Angela Gilbert said. “Without them and all the prayer and God’s grace we wouldn’t be here. We couldn’t do it.”The Gilbert family has been leaning on faith and support from the community during this unbearable time. “He had a special plan for our babies, and we will see them again one day,” Angela Gilbert said.Until they see them again, they will rely on the memories of who the Gilbert sisters were.“Cassie loved animals. She was a very special little girl. She was born special,” Angela Gilbert said.“Anything outside, she loved to do it. She was so adventurous,” Alexandra Gilbert said. “Maddie not so much,” Angela Gilbert said.“No, she was fine staying indoors,” Alexandra Gilbert said.“Maddie was very artistic, and she was just coming into herself as a young girl and kind of finding her interests,” Angela Gilbert said.Cassie’s prom is this upcoming weekend. Her family said she found what she called a blue Cinderella dress they said it was only fitting that she be buried in it. The Gilbert sisters were laid to rest over the weekend, but the family said their memory will live on forever. “Us, they’ll never leave, we’ll never forget them,” father, Barry Gilbert said.“I don’t need a memorial,” Angela Gilbert said.“They’re everywhere I look,” Alexandra Gilbert said. A GoFundMe has been set up to help with unexpected funeral costs. The goal is $30,000 and so far, the community has raised more than $22,000. If you would like to help donate, click here. As for the driver of the pickup truck involved in the accident, troopers said he is recovering from a broken hip and is expected to be OK.