When recently the word cicatrice was the required nine letter word in Target, the Herald’s daily word-game, I grabbed my Oxford. Cicatrice?

The dictionary explained. Cicatrice is the skin tissue scar over a healing wound. Simple! Which led me to think that such an unusual word deserved a guernsey in my little story.  

October last, I was on my daily walk. I’d just turned off Henry Parry Drive into Georgiana Terrace in Gosford. Those of you who know this short street will appreciate its incredible steepness. A young lady walking down Georgiana Terrace at the same time responded to my greeting and then, in a moment of incredible foresight said, ‘Be careful, there’s a lot of loose gravel.’

That did it! A moment later I was airborne and diving arms and knees first into the unforgiving pavement. Silence. I regained focus to find myself straddled across the pavement with my head in the young lady’s lap.  

‘Just relax,’ she said. ‘The ambulance is coming.’

In the fifteen minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive, I got to know my saviour. Her name was Charlene and she worked for Gosford Hospital. She laughed when I accused her of being there to drum up business.

Charlene was the start of my hospital experience. She opened my eyes to what drives hospital folk.

Over the next fortnight in hospital, I had plenty of time to observe and ponder. Those around me, be they doctors, nurses or orderlies, all shared one thing: contentment. They worked in a place where they were able to help others. Certainly they saw pain and worse, but their work allowed them to help with the pain of others. They gave something of themselves, and I sensed a deep contentment, almost happiness in all of them.

My broken rib, torn tendons and strained muscles had opened the door to insight. I was allowed to arrive at a simple yet profound fact: giving to others is the road to happiness.

My moment of epiphany would not have happened without first executing a flailing arms-and-legs-dive down Gosford’s Georgiana Terrace. Cicatrices are my proof!