KEY POINTS:
Maddison Tranter is all smiles now but the 18-month-old's small body carries the scars of a horrific ordeal at a family Guy Fawke's display.
A ground firework misfired and shot about 50m into her pram, setting her on fire. It is a sight her terrified mother, Vicki Tranter, will never forget.
"I was just panicking - I thought her whole face had been burnt," Ms Tranter told the Herald.
"You just feel like it was your fault."
Ms Tranter, 21, is now firmly in the camp of those calling for a ban on the public sale of fireworks.
"I'll never [use] them again. If people want to do that, and take their own risk, fine. But we were doing them safely. I think they are just really unpredictable."
The Government is considering restrictions on fireworks sales next year and the Fire Service said the high rate of emergencies this year justified a ban on retail sales.
Ms Tranter's family were holding their display in the park next to their Christchurch home and her father, Philip, was setting off the fireworks nearby.
"He had done about five, and the sixth one just went everywhere," Miss Tranter said.
"It just shot [out], it was supposed to go up, but it went to the side. Dad reckons it fell apart. It was like a big flame-ball ... and it just went straight into her pram. Then she caught on fire. My Dad picked her up and ran her straight inside and under the water.
"You never thought that would happen."
The shocked family rushed a terrified Maddison to an after-hours surgery for treatment. Third-degree burns had blackened parts of her chest and neck and arms.
"I couldn't even look at [the burns] at first," Ms Tranter said.
Maddison was wearing a wool singlet underneath her dressing gown and that is believed to have saved her from more serious burns. Her injuries are healing well but she still needs painkillers.
Ms Tranter said her family had been in touch with the retailer who sold them the firework but they had heard nothing back.
