Jennifer Doan was inside Plaza Towers Elementary School when the tornado struck. Speaking from her hospital bed as she recovered from her injuries, Doan told CBS News' Vinita Nair she remembered putting her arms around two of the children.
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Saving the kids: One teacher's mission to keep her class safe
"We told them to get down," she said. "There weren't any lights on ... 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."
Rescuers found her under the rubble, with one of the third-grade students she tried to protect buried beside her.
Doan never lost consciousness but was transported without knowing what happened to her students or fellow teachers. She later learned that seven of her 20 students died.
Doan was eight weeks pregnant when the tornado struck. She was certain she'd lost the baby, but doctors found a heartbeat.