After surviving what her attorneys describe as a failed execution attempt in Tennessee last week, Christa Pike is now awake, speaking and being treated in hospital, according to her legal team.
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” her lawyers said in a statement.
“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.”
In their statement, Pike’s lawyers praised the emergency responders and hospital staff, saying they were grateful to the teams “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.
The lawyers’ account marked the first sign of improvement since Pike was taken by ambulance from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could not provide details beyond confirming that Pike remained hospitalized on Tuesday.
Pike, 50, endured two doses of pentobarbital during the state’s attempt to execute her, and survived.
She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Dr Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who served as an expert consultant for Pike’s legal team, said the change in her condition “bodes well for a good recovery”.
Even so, Zivot cautioned that it may take weeks or months to understand what recovery will ultimately mean — including whether Pike’s competency could return to a level that would allow the state to pursue another execution attempt.
“She’s still in the ICU,” he said. “She has recovered to a certain degree that she’s able to be off a ventilator and able to speak, but in no way would I announce her free of further serious risk.
“There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”
Pike’s attorneys are scheduled to return to court tomorrow as they press for more information about what occurred during the lethal injection that did not proceed as intended.
They want a court order compelling the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence from the attempted execution on 30 September, including drug lot numbers, records and other documentation.
The episode at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution — the second botched execution in Tennessee this year — underscores the broader struggle many US states face in administering lethal injections and identifying workable alternatives for carrying out capital punishment.
