(WBIR-Knoxville) Chilhowee Intermediate School 5th grader Joy Reinmann will not forget December 2, 2014 -- the day her school bus was involved in a fatal crash.
"The road was really slippery and I think (the bus driver) just turns around and crashed into another bus," Reinmann said after she was released from the East Tennessee Children's Hospital Tuesday evening. "Then everybody in all our bus almost blacked out and everyone was on the floor and screaming and crying... I thought I was going to die."
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She recalled seeing friends in pain, confused and scared over what happened on Asheville Highway in East Knox County.
Joy quickly acted, she recalled, with some injuries, to go from a victim to a friend.
"Everyone just started crying, so I went over there hugging Lexi, my friend," she said. "Her nose was bleeding and her lip, and oh my gosh, everyone was just crying. So I went and hugged everyone."
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She said she was most concerned about the driver on her bus.
"Now he's very very badly (hurt) in the hospital," Joy added.
Her mom, was relieved to see her not in too much pain. She, along with 19 other students on the buses were transported by KAT bus to ETCH for treatment. All of the students in that hospital were discharged before 9 p.m. Tuesday.
"I'm relieved, I'm so relieved. I couldn't imagine her not with me anymore," Joy's mother, Joline, said. "Take care of what you got... make the best of each day."
The 5th grader ended up with a black eye, adding "it's going to be more blacker tomorrow."
However, she and her family knew it could have been worse.
