Death row killer Christa Pike ‘aware and talking’ after failed execution
Death row murderer Christa Pike is awake and speaking in hospital while remaining handcuffed to her bed after surviving a botched execution attempt in Tennessee
Murderer Christa Pike has miraculously woken up and is talking to doctors(Image: Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images)
A death row killer has miraculously woken up and is talking to doctors after surviving a horrific botched execution. Murderer Christa Pike remains in a critical condition under heavy medical supervision following a double dosage of lethal injection drugs that failed to end her life.
Attorneys representing the convict confirmed she still faces a long road to recovery after the state of Tennessee’s execution attempt went catastrophically wrong. And despite clinging to life with severe injuries, Pike has been kept handcuffed to her hospital bed.
In an email statement released on Tuesday, nearly a week after the failed execution, her legal team said: “Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care.”
Pike remains in a critical condition under heavy medical supervision after the failed execution(Image: AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Lawyers slammed prison chiefs for their treatment of the injured killer while doctors fight to save her.
They added: “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.”
Pike faces a long road to recovery after the execution attempt went catastrophically wrong(Image: WBIR-TV via AP)
Pike’s survival has stunned medical professionals, with legal experts predicting months of ongoing care as her body attempts to heal from the failed procedure.
Her legal team hailed the convicted killer as a survivor as they launched a fresh plea for Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to slash her sentence to life behind bars without parole.
It comes after gruesome leaked photos emerged showing the horrific injuries to Pike’s arms, which lawyers described as “swollen, burned, and blistered.”
The update marks the first official sign from her defence team that her health is turning a corner after she was rushed to an outside hospital following a double injection of pentobarbital.
The killer had been knocked completely unconscious following last Wednesday’s failed execution, leaving her lawyers terrified she had suffered irreversible brain damage.
Medical expert Dr. Joel Zivot, who advised Pike’s legal team, revealed to the Associated Press that the latest update “bodes well for a good recovery.”
However, he warned the death row killer is far from safe, telling the news agency: “She’s still in the ICU. 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.”
He added: “There’s still a lot of bad things that can happen here, even when everyone is doing their job well.”
