Elderly woman found alone and bleeding

File photo / NZ Herald

A frail elderly woman remains in Tauranga Hospital this morning after she was stranded lying cold and bleeding outside her Papamoa home for more than four hours overnight.

The 79-year-old was at her Laguna Key home when she walked outside and fell onto a footpath about 11.30pm.

A St John spokesman said they understood the woman suddenly remembered she had forgotten to feed the dog when she went outside.

"She suddenly remembered that the dog needed feeding so she went out in the cold, tripped up and [fell forwards into] the ground," the spokesman said.

"She tried but she couldn't get up. She was hurt as well."

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The woman lay in the the bitter cold for more than four hours when a New Zealand Herald delivery van arrived to drop off papers. The woman driving the van stopped and called 111 while running to a neighbour's home for help.

The elderly woman suffered facial injuries and hypothermia