A Tennessee death row inmate, Christa Pike, is conscious and speaking six days after surviving a botched execution.
Pike’s lawyers revealed the development in a statement released on Tuesday, saying she remained in the hospital receiving critical medical care after surviving two doses of pentobarbital during the failed lethal injection.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.
“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed.
“Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” her attorneys said, according to CNN.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 gruesome murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer and was scheduled to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years.
Her execution on October 1 did not succeed after executioners reportedly spent roughly an hour trying to establish intravenous access for the lethal drug.
Pike’s attorney, Randy Spivey, stated that the execution team used no fewer than seven needles in the attempt to locate a suitable vein.
According to Spivey, Pike cooperated with the execution team and even pointed out where they might try to insert the IV lines.
Her lawyers had already cautioned Tennessee authorities about her past difficulties with vein access.
They think the IV problems led the pentobarbital to flow into her body instead of straight into her bloodstream.
After surviving the execution attempt, Pike was unconscious and put on a ventilator before being taken to a hospital for emergency treatment.
CNN reports that a media witness, WPLN reporter Catherine Sweeney, called the execution highly unusual.
“None of it was normal. I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year. We haven’t seen anything like it. It went really poorly,” Sweeney said.
