Just two weeks ago, while indulging in a birthday beer on a postcard Wollongong day, a young woman was skateboarding past just metres away when she clipped a drain, fell and lay sprawled on the path.
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The dull thud of her head hitting the pavement, the whites of her eyes, clenched fists and seized arms - her body reacting to the blow - is an image which has often run through my head since.
As my wife called an ambulance, the woman, probably in her early 20s, regained consciousness and it was clear as we talked she had little idea of what had just happened, or her surroundings.
She had grazes across her face and shoulders, but the real concern was the impact to her head.
The ambulance crew assessed her as she struggled to regain her sensibilities and took her to hospital to ensure there was no internal damage.
It all happened so quickly and easily.
She wasn't wearing a helmet, and one simple misjudgment at the very least became a lucky escape and a decent concussion.
Phillip Hughes was wearing a helmet. He was in fine touch in one of the most important innings of his career, as he chased a Test recall batting for South Australia against his home state of NSW at the SCG, when the unthinkable happened.
It could have been any batsman at almost any level, from a beckoning return to international cricket to a lower grade Illawarra player trying to fend off a nippy quick digging them in short.
But it happened to him, the plucky, dashing left-hander, with an unusual technique and a fighter's mentality, who would turn 26 on Sunday.
The upcoming Test series, Michael Clarke's dodgy hamstring and Brad Haddin's shoulder injury have faded into irrelevance now.
It's difficult to see how the Test players - especially Dave Warner, who was the first to Hughes when he fell - can summon the will to play against India on Thursday.
The outpouring of emotion from not just cricketers but sportspeople of many persuasions, as well as the wider public, both in Australia and internationally, has been extraordinary.
Cricket in Australia is played more aggressively than in any other country in the world.
It's the Australian way, as was on display when the Test team tore England apart in the Ashes series last summer.
It filters down through the levels, often descending into petty personality clashes between amateur players, who are skating on thin ice in regard to the spirit of the game.
In celebrating and reflecting on Hughes' life and career - and being unable to make sense of his death - it puts it all in perspective.
Some will wear black armbands, observe a minute's silence or paint 408, Hughes' Test cap number, on their fields this weekend in commemoration.
Others are bringing their bats to the pub afterwards and lining them up along the wall in a small tribute.
But over an ale, take a moment to think about Sean Abbott, a fine young bowler, as he comes to terms with the freak accident.
And remember why we play this game in the first place.
It's because we love it.
Any batsman who makes it unbeaten to 63 - the score Hughes was on when hit - should be applauded by both sets of players.
★★★
There was a remarkable contrast between South Coast surfers Sally Fitzgibbons and Tyler Wright in Hawaii on Friday.
Both were within touching distance of a first world title after Steph Gilmore bowed out in the quarter-finals.
It was the opportunity that Fitzgibbons had hoped for, but her chances ended when she narrowly lost on the last wave of her showdown with South African Bianca Buitendag.
The fiercely determined Gerroa girl was reduced to tears, she wanted it that badly.
Wright made it through to the final, where a victory over Carissa Moore would have sent her into a "surf-off" with Gilmore for the crown.
She has always deflected any expectations on tour, declaring she simply enjoys the lifestyle of being able to travel the world and surf some of the world's best locations.
Childhood friends, their approaches to life and surfing are wildly different.
In the end, their destinies are still yet to be fulfilled, as Gilmore's place among the greats was cemented with a sixth world tour title.