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Christa Pike says she is still struggling with physical injuries and emotional trauma a month after Tennessee's attempt to execute her failed, leaving her hospitalised and fighting for her life.
The 50-year-old death row inmate made her first public statement on Friday, October 30, through her attorneys, describing the pain she has experienced since surviving the lethal injection on September 30.
"There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain," Pike said. "My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul."
Pike had entered the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution believing she would die that night. She said she had already said goodbye to loved ones and made peace with what was about to happen.
However, the execution was aborted after two doses of the lethal injection drug pentobarbital failed to kill her. She was taken to hospital in critical condition, where she was placed on a ventilator. She regained consciousness several days later and was eventually returned to prison after spending 10 days in hospital.
Her lawyers have previously reported significant swelling and bruising in her arms, as well as difficulty swallowing and speaking. They believe the injuries may have been caused by problems inserting the intravenous lines or by the drug leaking into surrounding tissue.
"I am recovering, and I know that I am getting stronger. But healing is not the same as being okay," Pike said. She also described feeling isolated in the prison's medical ward, away from the people and connections that have helped her through difficult periods.
Pike said she was deeply hurt by what she described as the incompetence surrounding the failed execution. However, she added that she continued to think about the family of Colleen Slemmer, the 19-year-old woman she was convicted of murdering in 1995.
"I continue to think about my victim's family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured," she said. Pike was 18 when she and two others tortured and killed Slemmer, a fellow participant in a Job Corps training programme in Knoxville, Tennessee. She has spent approximately 30 years on death row for the crime.
The failed execution has prompted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to suspend executions in the state through the end of the year while an independent investigation examines what happened. The Tennessee Department of Correction has defended its execution procedures but has not publicly explained why the attempt failed.
