'I would be very sad if he's feeling bad.”

That's the message of compassion and conciliation from Mrs Kulwinder Gill to the elderly couple who smashed through the front window of her Papamoa superette in their car a fortnight ago.

The shopkeeper turned full-time grandma: Mrs Gill at home with her badly broken leg and grandson two-year-old Niva. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

'I thought I was going to die,” Kulwinder says, but she bears no animosity, no bitterness.

'I do not want them to feel bad.” Even though it was a close call. Her son Ricki also offers a hand of understanding.

'It could have happened to anyone. Things can be broken and replaced, lives can't.”

Kulwinder is just out of hospital. She underwent a five-hour operation to insert plates into three serious breaks in her lower right leg as a result of the incident. She's home and bedridden for a month, with no work for at least six months.

That'll be a hard ask for a woman who has worked 11 hours a day – every day – for the last eight years in the family's CentaMax Superette at Fashion Island.

'No it won't,” she laughs.

'It's a family business and you don't have a choice. We have to put in the hours to make a go of it,” explains Ricki.

For Kulwinder it will be an enforced holiday and a chance to enjoy her three daughters, her son and six grandchildren.

'And she has a satellite dish which brings in more than a 100 channels of Indian TV,” laughs Ricki. 'She should be able to entertain herself.”

It was about 1:20pm on a Sunday afternoon two weeks ago. Kulwinder was sitting behind the counter at the superette. There was no-one else in the shop and she had her nose in a Sunday paper.

'Next minute there's a big bang,” she explains. A Mitsubishi hatchback literally drove out of control through the window of the shop, striking the counter.

'I tried to get out of the way, but was thrown to the floor.” She tried to get to her feet, but couldn't.

'I was very frightened. I thought I was going to die. There was smoke everywhere and I couldn't see. I thought the shop was on fire.”

Kulwinder was in a lot of pain. 'It was the worse pain I've have ever had.” It's unclear how she broke her leg so badly.

The girls from the bakery next door were first on the scene, followed by Kulwinder's husband Rupinder from the liquor store they run on the other side of the superette.

Then the police and the fire brigade arrived, and soon Kulwinder was on her way to hospital for surgery.

No, she didn't see the man nor the woman in the car, but the family, which has endured its share of hardships in the last 18 months, wishes the couple well.

'We hope they are fine and not feeling bad,” says Kulwinder.

The family's bad run started last Christmas when burglars broke into a container behind their store and stole around $4000 dollars' worth of liquor.

Then there was the accident – which was bad enough – but on Sunday night at 11:20pm, Ricki got a security call.

Burglars broke through the temporary shopfront, forced the tobacco cabinet open and took the till. That raid cost them $10,000, but the family remain delightfully philosophical.

'This is a good community,” says Ricki. 'Papamoa is a kind place. There has been a lot of support for Mum, cards and chocolates and good wishes.”

One local even put up a Facebook message calling for residents to support the CentaMax Superette through its difficult time. That brings a smile to the Gills' faces.

But Rupinder's most reliable and committed worker is laid up and not sure whether she wants to return to the shop.

'I will wait and see,” says Kulwinder. In the meantime she's on her bed, staring at toes, peaking from a substantial plaster cast, snuggling up to two-year-old Niva and playing grandma.

She's broken, but comfortable, happy and grateful.