A crash killed a bicyclist Wednesday evening, with a GoFundMe account identifying her as 15-year-old Kendra Ahrens.
“We can confirm the crash involved a juvenile bicyclist and there is a fatality,” Cape Coral Police Department said in an email from its public information officer. “For all additional information, we will still defer to records.”
More: Cape Coral bicyclist, 66, dies after crossing into car’s path, Cape Coral police say
The city’s records custodian did not respond Friday morning into afternoon. Reports indicate she was riding along Santa Barbara Boulevard and Mid Cape Terrace when a U.S. Mail carrier truck hit her.
The GoFundMe campaign started by Aedan Campus, said Ahrens was trying to get home safely from work “when she unfortunately got hit while riding her bike.”
Ahrens was a junior and varsity cheerleader at Mariner High School.
“She was a sweet and bubbly girl and her life got cut too soon,” he said. “She was loved by so many people. All the money raised will go to her mom that she loved so much to help with any funeral or remembrance costs.”
As of Friday morning, the campaign collected more than $15,500, surpassing its $10,000 goal.
The GoFundMe indicated that Ahrens lived her life according to a Bible verse, Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Ahrens is at least the eighth bicycle-related fatality in Lee County in 2024 according to the Florida Department of Safety and Motor Vehicles. The department also said pedestrian-related crashes tally 230, with 12 pedestrian fatalities.
Statewide, at least 111 bicyclists have died in 5,116 crashes since January, the department reports.
Stacey Henson is the breaking news and visuals editor for the Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press. You may reach her at shenson@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Kendra Ahrens, 15, died in a Cape Coral bicycle crash on Wesneday
