NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — A <a href="https://apnews.com/article/teaching-newport-news-education-25cebfde17e46abc435c205210a7073d">Virginia teacher who was shot</a> and wounded by her 6-year-old student said it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day.“I
 just will never forget the look on his face that he gave me while he 
pointed the gun directly at me,” first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner said 
during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie about the 
student. “It's changed me. It's changed my life.”She said she's 
still in shock and can't make sense of it, in a portion of the interview
 that was aired Tuesday morning on “Today."“I'm not sure when the
 shock will ever go away because of just how surreal it was and the 
vivid memories I have of that day. I think about it daily. Sometimes I 
have nightmares,” she said.Speaking publicly for the first time 
since the Jan. 6 shooting, Zwerner said in a portion of the interview 
that was aired Monday on “NBC Nightly News" that she's had a challenging
 recovery. She's had four surgeries and has some days when she “can't 
get up out of bed." Other days she can go about her day.“For 
going through what I've gone through, I try to stay positive. You know, 
try to have a positive outlook on what's happened and where my future's 
heading,” Zwerner saidZwerner was hospitalized for nearly two 
weeks after being shot in the chest and left hand as she taught her 
class at Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia. <a is="" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/Summary = A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by her 6-year-old student says it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day. First-grade teacher Abby Zwerner spoke publicly for the first time since the Jan. 6 shooting during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie that partially aired Tuesday morning on “Today.” Zwerner said she'll never forget the look on the student's face while he pointed the gun at her. She said she's still in shock and can't make sense of it, but she thinks about it daily and it has changed her life. Body = A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by her 6-year-old student said it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day. “I just will never forget the look on his face that he gave me while he pointed the gun directly at me,” first-grade teacher Abby Zwerner said during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie about the student. “It's changed me. It's changed my life.” She said she's still in shock and can't make sense of it, in a portion of the interview that was aired Tuesday morning on “Today.">The shooting rattled the military shipbuilding community</a> and sent shock waves around the country, with many wondering <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-school-shootings-crime-teaching-080df45fb792de5c825b151315ba8a8c">how a child so young could get access to a gun</a> and shoot his teacher.In the moments after she was shot, Zwerner said the other first-graders in her class were screaming.She was terrified. But her concern centered on the children — “I just wanted to get my babies out of there."“I think they knew as well that they had to get out of there," Zwerner said. "But they were extremely frightened and screaming.”What happened next is still kind of a blur. Zwerner got the kids out of the classroom.She knew she needed help. The fire alarm had gone off, heightening her awareness that she'd been shot.She had trouble breathing. Her vision failed.“I went to the office and I just passed out,” Zwerner said. “I thought I had died.”Zwerner
 didn't know it at the time, but her lung had collapsed. Doctors said 
the bullet could have killed her. She likely survived because she had 
put up her hands.“The initial gunshot went through my left hand 
and ruptured the middle bone as well as the index finger and the thumb,”
 she said. “The gunshot then went into my chest up here where it 
actually still remains. So I have the scar up here. And I still have 
some bullet fragments up here.”At the hospital, Zwerner called 
her mother “Mommy” for the first time in quite a long time. She lives 
with her twin sister, who's been taking care of her since she returned 
home, from cooking meals to taking her to doctors appointments.The support from the outside world has been “overwhelming” and difficult to comprehend.“We have tons of handmade cards, hand-written cards with people’s stories,” Zwerner said.Zwerner believes she survived for a reason. If she could talk to her first-graders, she'd tell each one she loves them.“I’m very grateful that they’re all alive,” she said. “And they’re safe, and they’re healthy. And I just miss them dearly.”Zwerner
 told Guthrie the bullet wounds have scarred over. But she said they're 
still a reminder that, “Hey, this happened to you. This is what your 
body's been through.”Zwerner intends to sue the district, according to a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-teaching-newport-news-virginia-fd4938bb3097fdbf858f599fc53adc45">legal notice filed by her attorney</a>. Newport News Public Schools did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press on Tuesday seeking comment.Earlier this month, top Newport News prosecutor Howard Gwynn said his office will not <a href="https://apnews.com/article/6yearold-shoots-teacher-charges-richneck-newport-news-abby-zwerner-04e552e3662c8ed4c1b1a731d20ea205">criminally charge</a>
 the boy because he wouldn’t understand the legal system and what a 
charge means. Gwynn has yet to decide if any adults will be charged.The boy had fired his mother's gun, which police said was legally purchased. An attorney for the boy’s family has said that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-virginia-newport-news-children-33ed30539f279405f696ad10d4ff46a1">the firearm was secured</a> on a closet shelf and had a lock on it.During Tuesday's interview, Guthrie asked Zwerner what justice would mean for her.“That's a tough question to answer,” the teacher said.

Virginia teacher shot by 6-year-old: 'I thought I had died'