All 14 passengers in church bus crash recovering
MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — All but one of the church goers hurt in Sunday’s crash were released from the hospital as of Monday night. Troopers said their bus flipped after it was forced off the road by a truck in their lane. The pastor said one of the passengers was still hospitalized in Memphis, Monday night. Friends said she may need surgery, but is expected to fully recover. “If you look at our bus and see the thing that happened to the bus you’ll know that God is still real,” said Pastor Terry Poplar of Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Toone.. Poplar said the bus makes the route along Hwy 18 from Jackson to Toone every Sunday. This week was the church’s Christmas play. “We got a phone call and said that the bus had had an accident. So what we did, we just stopped in the midst of our Sunday school and went in prayer,” Poplar said. Poplar said after seeing pictures of the bus and hearing all 14 would be alright he had only one thought, “I would say it was a miracle.” Tammie Young, the driver who investigators said caused the crash, was arrested Sunday afternoon and appeared in court Monday morning. “She was charged with DUI first offense, implied consent, two counts of vehicular assault, six counts of assault and also with due care,” Lieutenant Brad Wilbanks with the THP said. Lt. Wilbanks said Young refused to voluntarily give a blood sample so troopers got a search warrant. Pastor Poplar said they are praying for Young, “we will have to keep praying because everybody makes mistakes.” Wilbanks said if the bus had seat belts for everyone the one person still hospitalized might have been less seriously hurt. “So please during the rest of the holiday season and from now on buckle up it works,” Wilbanks said. Poplar said his small church has a lot of love and is thankful all 14 of his members are alright. Poplar said, “God could have taken all of them at one time. But he spared them and we are thankful and grateful for that.” Officials said Young is now free on $30,000 bond. The THP said it is still investigating if Young was texting at the time of the crash.
