Prayers for scalded 10-month-old

Rhianna Hardie suffered 85% burns

Prayers were being said for a 10-month-old baby who was scalded when hot water pipes burst above her cot.

Rhianna Hardie remains in a critical condition in hospital after suffering 85% burns in the accident at her council house in Taunton, Somerset.

Doctors have told the baby's family her injuries are so severe that she only has a 20% chance of survival.

The Rev Tim Jones said: "Our thoughts are with her family and we are of course here to support them."

"All churchgoers have been saying prayers for Rhianna and her family at this time of tragedy and hoping and praying she will pull through," he said.

The family would just like to thank everyone for being so kind to us during this difficult time Kathleen McKenzie Rhianna's Grandmother

Rhianna was scalded on only the second night the family had spent in their council house.

Her parents heard a loud bang in her room and found boiling water pouring from pipes on to the child's cot.

Her father Mathew Hardie, 27, suffered burns to his hands and arms as he pulled Rhianna from the cot.

She was taken to Taunton's Musgrove Park Hospital, before being transferred to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and then to the city's Children's Hospital, where she is currently under sedation and in a critical condition.

Skin grafts

Mr Hardie and the baby's mother Charlene Haworth, 23, have been at the baby's bedside since the accident last Sunday.

Doctors have told the family that the next four weeks will be critical to Rhianna's survival.

They hope to use skin grafts from her midriff - which was protected from the boiling water by her nappy - to grow skin that could be applied to her face and body.

The baby's grandmother Kathleen McKenzie, 47, said: "The main thing is that she is still here.

"She's a real little fighter and that has got to bode well for the next few weeks.

"The family would just like to thank everyone for being so kind to us during this difficult time."

The Health and Safety Executive and Taunton Deane Borough Council have both launched an investigation into the accident.

Avon and Somerset Police have said there are no suspicious circumstance surrounding the baby's injuries.