A Northland toddler remained in a coma and on a life-support system last night in the Starship children's hospital.
The girl's parents, who were by her bedside, said the youngster was "in a deep, deep coma."
"Her brain is not very good," the child's mother told One News. "She's just a beautiful
girl that has done no harm to no one. All she thrived on was life."
The 28-month-old was unconscious when she was taken to hospital on Sunday after ambulance officers had been called to a house in Whangarei.
She had severe head injuries, a broken arm and cuts, bruises and cigarette burns over her body.
A woman appeared in court on Monday charged with assault and was remanded in custody.
Paediatrician Dr Patrick Kelly said the toddler remained in a critical but stable condition.
Detective Dean Walford of Whangarei said it could be some time before doctors established if the child had brain damage. This would affect any decision on whether she would be taken off life support.
"We're still waiting for a call from doctors and medical staff.
"It's just going to be a matter of waiting for her to recover sufficiently for them to be able to bring her out of a medically induced coma.
"Then they can do the responsiveness tests on her to see how much damage there is to her brain."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Child, Youth and Family Services said it had interim custody of the toddler and would therefore expect to be consulted over whether to turn off life support.
