HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. — It was the second to last day for senior Sophia Sisler. She was setting up an art display in the hallway when the unthinkable happened.

“Students started coming downstairs into the nurse’s office. They were crying and shaking, kind of freaking out a little bit and some of them had soot on them. They were really red. They had red spots on their faces and arms and that sort of thing.”

She later heard about a chemical accident which caused a Merrol Hyde Magnet High School science teacher and 11 students to be rushed to hospitals. Several had second degree burns.

“A couple had open blisters on their legs already,” Sisler added. “I think they were all just really panicked from what happened.”

She said teachers escorted those exposed to the nurse’s office until emergency crews arrived.

“They were clinging on to the teachers really and they were crying and they were terrified.”

“When you have chemicals and you’re in a science lab situation it doesn’t happen often but there’s always a chance that it could happen,” said a school administrator.

Although people on social media are blaming the teacher for this accident, Sisler said they shouldn’t.

“That is absolutely not true. He looked them all in the eye while he was actively burning, holding his burn spot and saying ‘It’s going to be OK. You’re going to be OK,’ and he got them all out of the room unbelievably fast.”

She hopes all the students and teacher fully recover. A day she soon won’t forget heading into summer.