Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike, who survived an attempt to execute her last week, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment in a hospital, her attorneys said Tuesday.
Pike’s attorneys said her prognosis is still “unclear” and said she faces “a long recovery.”
“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care," attorneys for Pike 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 attorneys also thanked the first responders and hospital medical team "who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her."
The statement was the first indication that Pike’s condition had improved since she was taken by ambulance from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.
What happened to Christa Pike?
Christa Pike was scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She survived two doses of pentobarbital during the execution attempt.
{{/usCountry}}Christa Pike was scheduled to be executed on Sept. 30 for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She survived two doses of pentobarbital during the execution attempt.
{{/usCountry}}Dr. Joel Zivot, a professor of anesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery.”
However, he said it could take weeks or months to determine the full extent of her recovery and whether she could regain enough competency for the state to attempt another execution.
“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 said Tuesday that they continue to ask Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time,” her attorneys said.
With inputs from AP