David Fryer lapses sometimes and imagines his daughter is just away from home. She might be running a restaurant in Los Angeles, enjoying an opportunity her boss mentioned before the accident. "Perhaps she's there," Mr Fryer said. "I hope she's doing well and just doesn't have the time to contact me."
But Mr Fryer knows his 19-year-old daughter Kaileigh was killed early in the morning on April 9 last year in a drink-driving crash. Her friend Michael John Severino was convicted last month of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning her death.
Giving evidence in his sentencing hearing on Monday, the 26-year-old from Wahroonga said he and Ms Fryer, a Manly student, had been "best mates".
"She was like a little sister to me and she used to call me her big brother," he told the Sydney Downing Centre District Court. "I spend every waking moment wishing I could trade places with her like any loving brother would."
Severino had pleaded not guilty, claiming he could not remember who had been driving. He said the last thing he remembered was the pair drinking in Manly; Severino would later register a blood alcohol reading of .161.
Footage from CCTV cameras shows the pair leaving the New Brighton Hotel about 2am. Two hours laters, his red Toyota Corolla crashed on Mona Vale Road at Terrey Hills, flipping twice and throwing Ms Fryer to the road. She died of her injuries at the scene.
The court case hinged on whether Ms Fryer, an automatic driver, could have driven a manual car in fifth gear at 105km/h while drunk.
"I'm sorry we got in the car, I'll never know why, I honestly don't remember," Severino told Ms Fryer's family.
But her sister, Stacey, speaking before Severino, said she had seen no remorse from him. "He didn't have a plan B and he took my sister's life," Stacey said.
Ms Fryer's mother, Michelle, said she had lost a "vibrant, bubbly, intelligent" daughter. The court heard Ms Fryer had posthumously received the management degree she had been due to receive with a month after her death. Ms Fryer had talked about joining the army or completing another degree.
But she had other, more personal ambitions too, uncovered in a journal by her mother. There was the 49-item "bucket list" which has since gained international attention through social media. Friends, family and strangers have completed almost all the goals on the list.
Michelle Fryer said her family now stretched across the world to include every person who had crossed off an achievement on Kaileigh's behalf.
Severino, who had no prior driving convictions, was remanded in custody to be sentenced on August 25.
