9-year-old who was badly burned in March fire finally returns home

PHOENIX (FOX 10) -- A nine-year-old girl who was badly burned in a fire back in March has been released from the hospital on Monday.

9-year-old Isabella McCune only asked for one thing this Christmas: to go home. On Monday, Isabella got that early Christmas wish, after spending nine months at the Arizona Burn Center, and for the first time, she got a chance to meet the first responders who helped her on March 17.

March 17 was the day that changed Isabella's life. She was standing next to a fire pit when her dad poured gas on the fire, and it exploded. Isabella suffered severe burns over half of her body.

It has been a difficult road to recovery, but there were some light spots, like when Isabella got to meet her idol Taylor Swift when she surprised her in her hospital room.

Isabella says the time she's spent in the hospital has helped her decide what she wants to do when she grows up.

"I've learned that all the nurses and techs and doctors in the burn center always try for their best to keep you out of pain, make sure that you're fine, help you with everything you nee,m and because of that, I want to be a burn nurse," said Isabella. She also said what got her through the difficult, sometimes painful days was thinking about the day she would finally get to go home.

Meanwhile, Isabella's family is overjoyed with the thought of them all being together once again.

"She is definitely our hero," said Isabella's mother, Lily McCune. "She'll always be our hero. We've drawn a lot of strength from her over the past nine months. At times when we didn't think we could go on, she gave us the strength and courage, and she had the determination and that's why we're here and able to go home."