(CNN) A 9-year-old girl crossing the street to catch the school bus held her twin brothers' hands and shielded them before they were fatally struck by a pickup truck in rural Indiana, according to her uncle.

his niece, Alivia Stahl, acted more like a mother than a sister in protecting 6-year-old Xzavier and Mason Ingle. Elgin Ingle told CNN affiliate WRTV thathis niece, Alivia Stahl, acted more like a mother than a sister in protecting 6-year-old Xzavier and Mason Ingle.

He commended Alivia for her bravery in her last moments.

"To her I say, way to be a badass, man. She had a split second to think of what to do, and she chose to shield her brothers with that split second," he told the Indianapolis TV station.

Their mother, Ingle said, ran to them immediately after the accident Tuesday morning but was stunned.

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