BALLSTON SPA — An Averill Park teenager who was struck by lightning along with a friend last month said Monday she remembers running in the rain and then waking up in Saratoga Hospital 36 hours later.

Kelly Neal was with friends at the Saratoga County Fair in Ballston Spa on July 18 and was returning to the parking lot in a downpour when she was struck by lightning outside an exit gate.

She and a dozen members of her family visited the Community Emergency Corps in Ballston Spa Monday evening to thank rescuers whose fast work they credit with saving her life.

Paramedic Doug Faulisi was working at the fairgrounds that night and said he saw the lightning strike, but didn’t know anyone was hit until a radio call came in reporting two people were injured.

“We were less than 100 yards away and got the call within a minute of the flash,” he said Monday. “[Fellow paramedic] Pete Frolish and I hopped in the ambulance and got to the scene in no time.”

He said when Neal was placed in the ambulance, she was not breathing and her heart had stopped beating.

“I defibrillated her [once] and within a minute her heart started up again,” Faulisi said. “We kept ventilating her all the way to the hospital.”

Neal’s mother, Debbie Neal, said she was in Saratoga Springs when she got the call that her daughter was being rushed to the hospital.

“Kelly woke up about 12 hours later and she was pretty disoriented and very tired so she went back to sleep,” her mother said. “It wasn’t until Sunday that she really woke up and was aware of what was going on.”

Debbie Neal said she insisted on sleeping with her daughter the first few nights after she returned home and even now, it’s difficult to see the girl leave the house.

“She’s gone to a concert and out to the drive-in, but I’m very nervous while she’s gone,” she said.

The teen said the only visible effect of the strike was singed hair on one side of her head. She’s since had a haircut.

Her mother said doctors believe she was struck in the mouth and the lightning exited through her foot.

The other person hit that night was Laura Madelone, 34, of Latham, who was treated and released within 24 hours from Saratoga Hospital.

Neal had accompanied Madelone, her boyfriend and his children to the fair.

Madelone she and Neal decided to run for the car in a nearby parking lot, but they took a wrong turn and got lost near a gate outside the fairgrounds.

“We stopped to get our bearings and I saw flashes of lightning . The last thought I had was, there’s a tree and there’s a metal gate, this isn’t good,” she said during a previous interview.

Debbie Neal said Madelone had planned to attend the reunion with rescue workers Monday, but heavy rains in Troy and flooded streets kept her from the event. Faulisi said he was very happy to see Neal walking, talking and laughing Monday evening.

“When we first saw you, you didn’t look good,” he said. “I was so worried you were going to be another bad memory.”