A traumatised Martinborough family who endured the death of their 3-year-old daughter last month are now watching her twin sister undergo repeated surgery after suffering burns to 50 per cent of her body.
The 3-year-old is believed to have been playing with matches or a lighter at home when she accidentally set fire to herself on Monday afternoon.
A Wellington Free Ambulance team treated her at the scene and drove to Featherston Domain to meet Life Flight's Wellington-based Westpac rescue helicopter.
She was transferred to Hutt Hospital, then taken on a 70-minute Life Flight air ambulance flight with a medical team to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.
Hospital communications spokeswoman Lauren Young says the girl underwent surgery yesterday and was "critical but stable".