PHYSICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES STILL AFFECT FRIENDS

already passed away. I was like, ‘Get her out of here now.’ I was more worried about her than myself or anybody else.”

The driver and passenger in the pickup grabbed a gurney, put Zeolla on it and wheeled her into the emergency room, where she underwent surgery to save her life.

Her mother, meanwhile, heard about the shooting and showed up at the hospital desperately looking for her daughter, fearing she was among those killed.

By chance, she ended up on an elevator with Powers’ mother. She mentioned her daughter’s name, which Powers’ mother recognized.

“Dominica?” Powers’ mother exclaimed.

“My mother said, ‘That’s my daughter; we thought she died,’ ” Zeolla said, recounting the story she was later told. “His mother told her that I was upstairs.”

After she got out of surgery, Zeolla remembered little about the ordeal — or Powers. “Who is Brad? I don’t know these people,” she said.

Her mother told her about what her friends did, and the ride to the hospital, and Powers. And later, Zeolla and Powers met in a hospital room, where they shared a hug.

“Ever since then, Brad’s been like a big brother to me,” Zeolla said. “We became friends and family.”

A year later, they keep in touch regularly on the phone and through social media. They also meet from time to time, trying to stay in contact with each other as much as possible.

They are both still recovering from their injuries — physical and psychological.

Zeolla undergoes physical therapy weekly and takes medication to manage lingering anxiety, especially around large crowds.

“That’s my life now,” she said. “I just try to be thankful that I’m still here.”

Powers, meanwhile, is walking again and has returned to work. But he describes his recovery as “an optical illusion.”

“I still can’t feel from my knee cap down to my toes,” Powers said.

“I take 20 medications on a daily basis. I’ve attended counseling. There’s a ton of stuff that I had to do. It’s ongoing; it never ends.”

But, he said, “I’m not going to let what happened put me down . ... I want to be there for my kids, my family and my job. And I’m going to keep going.”

DOMINICA ZEOLLA / INSTAGRAM Brad Powers and Dominica Zeolla became and have remained friends after both were wounded during the Oct. 1, 2017, mass shooting on the Strip.