Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has said she remains in constant physical and psychological pain after surviving a botched lethal injection on September 30. In her first public statement since the failed execution, the 50-year-old described her injuries, isolation in a prison hospital and uncertainty about her future.In a statement dictated to her lawyers and released on Friday, the 50-year-old said she had been struggling with pain and speech difficulties since the execution attempt.“There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak,” Pike said.“And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul.”Pike, who is being held at the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Tennessee, said she had prepared herself to die peacefully but instead regained consciousness alone in a hospital bed.“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next,” she said, adding that she was “searching for meaning in what happened to me”.She also expressed concern for the family of her victim, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.“I continue to think about my victim’s family,” Pike said, referring to the “terrible pain and loss they have endured”.Pike thanked the first responders and medical staff who treated her, saying support from people around the world had given her strength.“To know that so many people care about me, that they see me as a human being whose life matters, is something I cannot fully put into words,” she said.Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during her scheduled execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on September 30. Her lawyers said the injections may not have entered her bloodstream correctly, instead pooling in her arms and causing severe injuries, including burns and blistering.According to court documents, the execution team struggled to establish functioning intravenous lines. Pike reportedly complained of burning pain before losing consciousness and being transferred to a Nashville hospital in critical condition. She was discharged on October 10.Her lawyers have also asked a federal judge to end her isolation in the prison infirmary, arguing that it violates a 2024 agreement allowing her social contact with other women prisoners. They said the isolation had caused significant psychological harm.Meanwhile, a Tennessee judge has ordered officials to preserve evidence relating to the failed execution. Her lawyers have alleged that the incident violated the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.Governor Bill Lee has appointed a former US attorney to review the incident and suspended the state’s remaining executions for the year. The move follows another problematic execution attempt in May.Lee rejected Pike’s clemency appeal before the execution attempt. Asked about her sentence this week, he said, “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”Pike remains on death row. Her lawyers are seeking to have her sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
