KEY POINTS:
A hit-and-run victim who had been lying critically injured for seven hours used her last bit of energy to whisper her husband's name in a bid for help.
The 41-year-old psychologist was left to die in the ditch after being hit while walking along Govan Wilson Rd in Matakana late on Wednesday night.
She was found just 300m from home the following morning suffering from multiple injuries including a severely swollen throat from a fractured vertebra in her neck, severe bruising and head injuries.
"My wife was in a fetal position," said her husband, who struggled to control his emotions as he described seeing her on the side of the road.
"Her blue eyes had gone grey and she was in the ditch."
The woman was rushed to hospital, where she began vomiting and choking - something her husband believes would have killed her if she had been on the roadside any longer.
The husband, who did not want to be identified, told the Weekend Herald his wife - who was a bit of a night owl - had gone for a walk about midnight on Wednesday.
He said she didn't get home from work till late so it was not unusual for her to go out for a run or walk at that time of night on the quiet country roads, which she considered safe.
It was also not uncommon for the woman, who likes to meditate, to occasionally spend the night in the couple's guest house after exercising late at night. For that reason the man said he did not think it was unusual when he woke and his wife was not there on Thursday morning.
As he started getting their 8-year-old son ready for school, a local resident knocked on the door saying a woman had been found 300m from his home, lying in a ditch and repeatedly saying his name.
He arrived at the scene to find his wife struggling to breathe.
"You wouldn't treat a dog that way," he said. "To drive off and leave her to die in the ditch - it's only that she had such a tremendous inner strength that she survived - it's a pretty callous act."
An ambulance and firefighters arrived soon after and the woman was treated at the scene before the Westpac rescue helicopter flew her to Auckland City Hospital. She remained in the intensive care ward last night but is expected to survive.
Detective Kevin Blackman of the Warkworth CIB said there were tyre marks in the grass along the side of the road and the driver would have known they had hit someone.
"That's the callous part about it: whoever has hit her has just driven off ... They are obviously looking out for themselves."
Mr Blackman urged the driver to hand themselves in. Anyone with information can contact Warkworth CIB on (09) 425-0836.
