NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Perry County family is holding out hope for 13-year-old Cathrine Hankins.

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Flames badly burned the girl late last month after an accident involving diesel fuel and the family's wood stove.

According to Micheal Hankins, Cathrine's father, the girl and her 15-year-old sister wanted to help cook dinner. The older girl tried twice, against their father's advice, to use diesel fuel to light the family's new wood cook stove.

"When she started to pour the second time, the stove just (spewed flames) and sucked up the can and sprayed diesel," said Micheal Hankins. "Catherine had got the bottom of her dress on fire, and she panicked, and she took off running."

According to Michael Hankins, Cathrine rolled several times, but wasn't able to fully extinguish the flames. Weeks later, burns cover most of her body. Doctors listed her in critical but stable condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where her father has spent weeks at her bedside.

"She wants to go home," said Micheal Hankins. "I don't know that she realizes (what happened), you know, but I think she wants to go home."

Cathrine faces several serious surgeries in the coming weeks and months.

The accident has put a strain on the family. Micheal Hankins and his wife, Lisa, have 13 other children. Friends and family have pooled resources to provide baby-sitting and help repair the family's home.

Cathrine's sister also suffered burns during the accident. She's currently recovering at home.