A 29-year-old middle school teacher in northeast China's Heilongjiang province was run over and lost both of her legs after pushing two students out of the way of an oncoming bus on Tuesday.

Zhang Lili, a teacher at the No. 19 middle school in the city of Jiamusi, was crossing the road just outside the school's gate when a school bus suddenly came rushing toward nearby students at 8:38 p.m. Tuesday. Zhang pushed two students out of the way of the bus, but she herself was run over, witnesses said.

"There were three buses at the school gate ready to pick up students, but the one in the back suddenly crashed into the second bus and pushed it into the first one. There were several students standing between the first and the second buses and they were about to be crushed," said Liu Ye, a student of No. 19 middle school.

"I screamed, but I did not know what to do," Liu said.

"I saw Zhang Lili running toward the front of the second bus. She then used her bottom to push one student away and grabbed another student away from the bus, but she was hit by it," said Li Jinru, Zhang's colleague.

"It was a mess, and the bus windows were shattered and shards of glass were lying all around. We pulled Zhang from under the bus and called the ambulance," Li said.

Six people, including Zhang and five students, were injured and sent to Jiamusi Zhongxin Hospital.

The five students sustained minor injuries, but Zhang was seriously injured, suffering lumbar and pelvic fractures. She is still in a coma and her legs have to be amputated, said Cao Hongtao, head of the hospital.

"She is so young and has yet to have babies, so we only amputated her legs, but if things get worse, I'm afraid her bottom will have to be removed, too," Cao said.

Her pulse and blood pressure are improving, but she is still in critical condition and the risks of infection after the operation remain high, Cao said.

"Her heroic deeds are so touching. We will do our utmost to save her," Cao said.

Zhang's accident has shocked and saddened her family, colleagues and students.

Zhang's father has yet to accept what has happened to his daughter.

"I am her rock, but she is my world," her husband Li Ziye said in an interview with Xinhua.

After the incident, many students and their parents went to the hospital, offering to donate their blood and money to Zhang, said Wang Yuwen, Zhang's colleague.

"She is like a mother figure to me, and when I was with her, I felt warm in my heart," said Yan Hongyi, one of Zhang's students.

"I was very sad that my teacher was injured, but I am not surprised that she would risk her life to save others," Yan said. "She once protected us from a bicycle that was about to hit us back in 2009."

"Zhang has been donating 100 yuan each month to a boy in her class for three years now. I feel that I have so much to learn from her," Wang said. (100 yuan is equal to 15.9 U.S. dollars.)

The driver, surnamed Xiao, has been detained.

Xiao said she knew the bus's brakes were not working well, and after she started the engine, she got distracted talking to people on the bus and her leg accidentally pushed the gearshift, said Zhang Jiandong, an official with the Jiamusi Traffic Police.