A freak accident early Tuesday

morning involving a deer and a Fayette County school bus could have resulted

in tragedy for the driver if not for the quick thinking and composure

of her daughter.

According to Melinda Berry-Dreisbach,

public information specialist for Fayette County Schools, driver Danette

Corcoran, 43, was navigating bus 182 northbound on Gingercake Road in

Fayetteville around 6:30 a.m. when a 2000 Chrysler Sebring, operated by

Heather Lindsay, 27, traveling southbound struck an antlered buck. The

impact tore the deer in half, and the animal's rear half was hurled into

the air and through the windshield of the bus.

Instantly covered in glass

and blood, Corcoran was unable to see. Her 10-year-old daughter, Rachel

Hubbard, a student at Fayetteville Elementary and the only passenger at

the time, calmly directed her mother to steer the bus off the road and

brake. Bus 224 was next on the scene and its driver radioed for help.

Fayette County Sheriff's Deputy

Bryan Woodie investigated the accident and reported that Corcoran was

very lucky to survive, and credited her daughter with keeping the mishap

from becoming deadly by remaining calm. Corcoran was treated at the hospital

for bruises and facial lacerations, including a scratched cornea, and

released. Her daughter and the driver of the other vehicle were uninjured.

Berry-Dreisbach noted that

a metal angel clip attached to the visor of the driver's side of the bus

was not even bloodied in the accident. It stayed perfectly in place, she

said.