Gracie Skinner can't believe she's in one piece after she fell six feet onto solid concrete last Wednesday.
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"I have osteoporosis, so I don't know how I didn't break a bone," she said.
The petite 24-year-old stopped off at Berkeley skate park - her "happy place" - for a quick skate after a day surfing at Killalea with friends.
Although it was 8pm, the side of the skate park closest to the road had some visibility thanks to streetlights. The park appeared empty, except for a lone cyclist passing by on the adjacent bike path.
Gracie had begun to pull on her black Pro-Tec safety gear before she realised she had left her earphones in the car.
"I like to listen to music while I skate, so I skated back to the car - when I came back, my helmet and elbow pads were gone," she said.
Undeterred, Gracie did several laps of the park before dropping in to the main bowl. As she was perched at the top of the six-foot drop for her final run, she says she felt a pair of hands push her from behind.
She has vague memories of seeing a man with a bike at the top of the bowl before she lost consciousness.
"It was not what I was expecting," she said.
"I tried to get up but I couldn't feel the whole left side of my body. I had my phone in my pocket and used it to call an ambulance.
"I can't remember the conversation exactly, I just remember them saying the police were coming. When the police arrived I saw their lights first. I was very disorientated and quite concussed and I thought it was the person who pushed me coming back to hurt me."
Gracie was taken to hospital, where scans showed no permanent injuries, although she did suffer a concussion and remains sore and uncomfortable.
A neurologist attributed her temporary left-side paralysis to shock.
She is thankful she wasn't hurt more seriously.
"It's a six-foot fall from where I stood," she said.
"I've got underlying mental health issues and that situation triggered my anorexia. They helped treat me for that as well while I was in hospital."
Gracie reported the incident to police, however, without witnesses or security footage she understands it will be difficult for them to find out what happened.
She is speaking out in the hopes that Wollongong City Council will invest in lighting and security cameras for the region's skate parks.
Gracie believes that would not only make the parks safer at night, but also help the emergency service workers who respond to accidents and assaults at the parks.
"I don't think it should be a thing that women can't skate at night," she said.
"During the day it can be hard to practice things because there are so many little kids on scooters, you don't want to have an accident.
"A lot of people around me have said I shouldn't be out at night - telling women not to go out at night is not the solution. I'm pretty resilient, but the worst part is knowing how bad it could have been if I fell a different way, and that it can happen again in future to someone else if things aren't changed."
A council spokesperson said they were "disappointed" to hear about the incident.
"We take matters of this nature seriously and will undertake a Night Time Safety Audit with NSW Police at the site," the spokesperson said.
"This audit will consider a range of options including whether additional lighting in the location is needed.
"Council will consider the findings of the audit and community feedback before making further plans."
Gracie said the skate community, including 3sixty indoor skate park, had rallied around her. She also thanked staff at Wollongong Hospital and the police for their support.
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