Tragedy was avoided by the narrowest of margins early Monday morning on U.S. 25E in Hamblen County.

As longtime teacher Sharla Conklin – who began doubling as a bus driver just over a month ago – pulled towards her first stop of the morning, she activated the yellow warning lights and put out her stop sign.

After the bus came to a complete stop, she opened the doors, looked to greet the first of eight students stepping onto the bus when the unthinkable happened.

A semi-truck hauling wooden sheets smashed into the back of the bus. Witnesses say there were no indication that it tried to stop.

Conklin – who was taken to a local ER with symptoms of whiplash – said what happened next was a miracle.

“He said he was getting ready to step up on the bus and then the bus started moving,” she sa

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