A teacher who was run over by a school bus as she pushed two students out of the way has regained consciousness and no longer needs a respirator to breathe, doctors said on Thursday.

Zhang Lili, 29, lost both of her legs and had been in a coma since the accident on May 8.

"Now she is awake and can communicate using simple words, even though her voice is very quiet," said Zhao Mingyan, director of the intensive care unit at First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University.

However, she warned that Zhang's condition is still very serious.

"She is not out of danger yet," she said. "We will observe her condition and work hard to save her life. She may need more operations in the future."

A team of specialists from Beijing arrived in Harbin on Wednesday, led by Wang Yu, director of medical administration at the Ministry of Health.

Zhang, a Chinese language teacher at No 19 Middle School of Jiamusi, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, was hailed a hero after she saved the two students' lives.

Because of the many visitors arriving to see Zhang, the hospital has opened a reception room where well-wishers from around China and the world can leave cards and make donations.

A group of teachers from Gyeonggi province, South Korea, visited the hospital on Thursday and donated 1,000 yuan ($150) to Zhang.

"We had heard about her heroic undertaking from Korean television before we started. We arrived here on Wednesday for an education investigation, and the first place we chose to visit was the hospital," said Kim Sang-kon, superintendent of the provincial education office.

"As teaching staff, we will learn from her as a role model," Kim said.

Xu Minyue, a 22-year-old college student from Northeast Forestry University, came to the hospital with five of his roommates during their lunch break, and donated 700 yuan.

"I graduated from No 19 Middle School in Jiamusi five years ago. Although I didn't know her before the accident, I feel very proud of my alma mater because of the heroic teacher. As students, we don't have much money. We just want to express our respect for her and hope that she can get better soon," Xu said.

Zhu Xueyi, an 80-year-old calligrapher, created two volumes and nine pieces of calligraphy specially for Zhang.

Among the nine pieces is a three-meter long writing titled "Zhang Lili - the most beautiful person in China".

"I wanted to send one of the two volumes to Zhang I spent the whole week working on these pieces, and I hope the nine pieces can be hung in Zhang's room to give her more courage," Zhu said.

As of Thursday afternoon, Zhang had received 2.75 million yuan in donations, said Bao Runjia, an official of the Jiamusi civil affairs bureau, who is in charge of receiving donations for Zhang.

The donations have come from various organizations, students, doctors and even patients at the hospital.

"We have set up a fund named after Zhang Lili, which will be used to provide a guarantee for her life after her recovery. And we will designate people to manage the fund and make specific regulation for it," said Bao.

You can contact the reporter at zhouhuiying@chinadaily.com.cn