Amidst the horror and destruction left over from the deadly 2-mile wide EF5 tornado that flattened everything in its path on May 20 in Moore, Okla., comes the story of local hero and third-grade teacher Jennifer Doan from Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore. Doan is being credited with trying to calm and reassure her young students during the tornado strike’s direct hit, ultimately covering two students with own body as the tornado reduced her elementary school to rubble.
According to a May 21 report from CBS News, Doan suffered severe injuries, including a fractured spine and sternum, and lacerations covering her entire body.
Recalling the horror, Doan said:
Third-grader kept telling her that he couldn't breathe and he didn't want to die.
Photo credit: YouTube ..“"We told them to get down, there weren't any lights on and already and they were all scared.
"I held my arm -- my arm over the ones next to me ... and I looked up at the door and I put my head down and it just hit."
Doan, who can barely speak because of her injuries, covered two of her students with her body. When rescuers finally managed to dig her out, they discovered one of her students buried beside her.
Recalling the conversation with one of those students, Jennifer said, “… he just kept telling me that he couldn't breathe and he didn't want to die."
“"I don't know how long we were stuck, and somebody finally came and dug some stuff from above my head and they reached their hand down for me," she says.
At least one of the children Jennifer helped protect was rescued from the destroyed elementary school.
Nine children died as a result of the tornado that hit Moore. Seven of those children were students from Plaza Towers Elementary School.
Twenty-four people total, including the 9 children, are confirmed dead from the Moore tornado, with hundreds more injured. Okla. residents and legislators are now calling for mandatory safe rooms or underground storm shelters in the schools following the Moore tornado disaster.
The tornado damaged or destroyed nearly 13,000 homes in the area, leaving thousands homeless, and causing nearly $2 billion in damages.
The search for tornado survivors ended as of the morning of May 23.
Jennifer Doan is currently in the hospital. Recalling the moments before and after the tornado hit, she said, “it's been replaying and replaying in my head."
Get well soon Jennifer Doan, and all of Moore, Okla.
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