Christa Pike is awake, speaking and continuing to receive medical care days after Tennessee failed to carry out her execution, according to a statement from her attorneys.
Pike suffered severe injuries to her arms during the execution attempt and remains handcuffed and shackled to her hospital bed, her attorneys said. They added that her prognosis remains unclear and that her recovery is expected to be lengthy.
“At a minimum, we expect a long recovery,” attorneys Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason said in a Tuesday statement.
The attorneys also thanked first responders and hospital staff for treating Pike and providing medical care, as well as people around the world who have sent messages of support.
Pike survived after prison officials administered 2 injections of pentobarbital during the attempted execution last week. Her attorneys have said problems with the intravenous lines may have caused the drugs to enter tissue instead of her bloodstream.
The 50-year-old was sentenced to death for the 1995 killing of her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. Pike was 18 when Slemmer was killed.
After the failed execution, Pike was taken to a hospital and placed on a ventilator while doctors worked to treat her condition.
Her attorneys said Pike is the only person known to have survived a complete execution attempt in the United States.
Pike’s attorneys are scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday, Oct. 7, following a hearing in Davidson County Chancery Court scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the failed execution and paused executions in the state for the remainder of the year. On Saturday, Lee announced the resignation of Frank Strada, the state’s top prison official, according to Reuters.
Strada said he believed the Department of Correction had followed established procedures but said stepping down was in the “best interest of Tennesseans” as the independent review continues.