Huntsville, Ala. ? The list of things Doris Harris has to be thankful for this year is straight to the point: Her 16-year-old granddaughter survived Monday’s deadly school bus crash with just a fractured arm.

But four of her granddaughter’s Lee High School classmates died in the crash, three others are still critical, and Thanksgiving for many will be a time of grief, funeral preparations and emotional turmoil.

The first funeral will be held Friday, two others on Saturday.

“Honestly, for me, it’s a true Thanksgiving because I’ve been given back my child,” Harris said Wednesday, hours after her granddaughter, LaWanda Jefferson, was released from Crestwood Medical Center. “I could have been like the other parents, unfortunately. My heart bleeds and goes out for them.”

Gov. Bob Riley consoled victims and family members at Huntsville Hospital after a stop at the crash site, where clothing and shoes remained among scattered debris. It was surrounded by yellow police tape, and marked by a makeshift memorial of posters and stuffed animals nearby.

Riley said school buses that lack seat belts, like the one that crashed Monday, are safer than other forms of transportation for schoolchildren. But he said the nation should “at least have a debate” to see if school bus safety can be improved.

Church to protest funeral

Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., on Wednesday announced plans to protest near the Friday funeral of one of the crash victims, Nicole Ford. The church, which has gained national attention for protesting at funerals of fallen soldiers, said the crash was punishment from God, according to WAAY-TV in Huntsville.

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, right, talks on Wednesday with the Rev. Willie Hinton Sr., whose son, Phillip Hinton, was one of the Lee High School students injured in a bus crash Monday, while visiting the crash site in Huntsville, Ala.

Huntsville Police Chief Rex Reynolds said in a statement that the police department had approved a request for the demonstration. Ten demonstrators will be allowed to protest for 45 minutes before the start of the funeral in an area about 500 feet south of Union Chapel, where the funeral is to begin at noon. As of Wednesday, a permit had only been issued for one funeral.

Huntsville police have created a buffer zone between the church and demonstration area, and officers will be on hand.

Riley has joined local community and religious leaders who said the Westboro members should stay home and let the families grieve, according to WAAY-TV.

10 remain hospitalized

Forty Lee High School students and driver Anthony Scott were on the school bus Monday morning when a car came up on a side lane and apparently hit the bus, which rammed into a concrete railing on Interstate 565 and toppled over, plunging about 30 feet and crashing nose-first into Church Street.

A Lee High School student was driving the car. Police have not released his name while the crash is under investigation.

Huntsville Hospital spokeswoman Pam Sparks said 10 victims, including the bus driver, were still hospitalized Wednesday and three of them, all students, were in critical condition. Scott, in his mid-40s, was described in serious condition.

Willie Hinton Sr.’s son, Phillip Maurice Hinton, had been one of the students in critical condition on Monday, but he was released late Tuesday after being treated for a fractured collarbone, a tear in his spleen and a punctured lung, his father said.

Hinton, who pastors the West Mastin Lake Baptist Church in Huntsville, hugged Riley at the crash site. Visibly moved, Riley whispered to him, “Let me know if there’s anything we can do.”

Survivor guilt common

Hinton later said it’s common for families of survivors to feel guilty, and those feelings might be compounded by these Thanksgiving holidays because the focus is heavily on counting ones blessings.

“It’s mixed feelings. You can be happy and families should know it’s not selfish – your child has made it through, but you’re still compassionate for the other families,” he said. “We are to rejoice when others rejoice and also feel sorrow when others feel sorrow. It’s natural for us to do that.”

Hospital spokesman Burr Ingram said the crash patients had all been put in private rooms where their family members can “visit with them comfortably.” The hospital and community members have been providing them with food and whatever else they needed, he said.

Wreck’s cause still unknown

Officials are still trying to determine what caused the bus to plunge off the overpass. Students Christine Collier, 16, and Ford, 19, died at the scene. Tanesha Hill, 17, died later Monday from her injuries, and Crystal Renee McCrary, 17, died Tuesday.

Scott, found critically injured on the overpass, has been unable to speak with investigators, who are uncertain how he exited the bus before it crashed.

He is an employee of Laidlaw Transit Services, which provides school bus transportation for the Huntsville system. Laidlaw branch manager David Prince said Wednesday he talked to Scott at the hospital Monday, but stopped the injured man when he tried to explain the events of the morning.

“He tried to, but I wouldn’t listen,” Prince said Wednesday. “I cut him off, I told him your health is the most important thing right now. We’ll talk about all of that later.”

Prince said the trip to Lee High School’s tech center wasn’t Scotts regular route, but he had driven it before.

“It’s not a new route for him,” Prince said. “Anthony was filling in on that day.”