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A teenager who suffered massive injuries and burns after a 33,000-volt electric shock is defying the odds, as her family maintain a vigil for their young "battler".
Katia Birchfield, 16, is fighting for her life after being caught in powerlines and falling to the ground with her clothes alight at a substation in Nelson 11 days ago.
She remains in a medically induced coma in Middlemore Hospital, as doctors work to combat her horrific injuries.
"She is hanging in there," said her father, Ross Birchfield.
"She's a battler. It's just a long and slow process, and she's just going to stay up there for a long time with skin grafts. She is lucky to be alive. She's a fighter, all right."
Birchfield said doctors had already started the laborious task of grafts. Katia is expected to be in hospital for months.
"The doctors and nursing staff have been fantastic. They are the best in the country. We are so lucky. Katia couldn't be in better hands, so her fate is with God really. That's how we see it, but, all things considered, she is doing quite well.
"The staff at Middlemore are brilliant. They are so dedicated."
The family are home in Nelson this weekend but return to Auckland early this week.
Birchfield said the community had rallied around him, his wife Sue and their family. "You have your better times and you have your not-so-better times."
Police are investigating the case.
Helen Winstone was playing pool with friends at a hotel opposite the substation when the power went out on October 21.
"It was really hard to tell at the time. We thought someone had thrown something over the line ... so we went outside and that is when we heard the screaming," she told the Nelson Mail. "Even though you couldn't really see because of the flames, you could tell it was a girl by her screams."
Nelson Electricity general manager Phil Goodall said the area broken into was a fenced switchyard, and they were not yet sure how the teenager had gained entry.
