Ringgold Ruby Tuesday manager retells her tornado experience on TV

A woman who survived the destruction of the Ringgold, Ga., Ruby Tuesday when it was hit by a tornado believes an angel saved her, and she's telling her story tonight on Country Music Television.

Michelle Campbell, a shift manager at the restaurant, will appear on "Angels Among Us" at 9 p.m. on the Nashville-based cable channel.

The show, hosted by Elizabeth Hasselbeck of "The View," will focus on Campbell's account of divine intervention as the tornado ripped the restaurant to pieces around her on the night of April 27.

"I'm just amazed we weren't sucked right out of there," Campbell told the Chattanooga Times Free Press, standing outside the rubble a week after the storm.

None of the diners in the Ruby Tuesday was seriously injured when the building was destroyed.

Attempts to reach Campbell on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

In past episodes, the show has aired dramatizations of tornado survivors, a man crushed by a logging truck, 9/11 victims and a soldier in Afghanistan, all of whom believed they were saved by angels.

Tammy Wood, executive producer for GRB Entertainment and the show, said the episode also will feature interviews with Carroll Allen, pastor of Ringgold Church of God. But the main focus will be on Campbell.

"I'm always looking for what I think is going to make a compelling story," Wood said. "She's what I think of as an everywoman. She has a great American story."

Allen was in the restaurant with Campbell, and he also believes a miracle saved him. A week after the incident, he recalled that the voice of a woman yelling for everyone to run came only seconds before the tornado rammed into the restaurant.

When he heard the order to move, he bolted from his chair and ran toward Campbell before being flung across the room.

"I believe an angel of the Lord pushed me," he told a reporter in May.

Campbell agreed.

"It's only by the grace of God that we got out of there," she said.

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