Christa Pike conscious and speaking after failed execution in Tennessee, say lawyers

Christa Pike, the inmate who survived Tennessee’s attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment in hospital, her lawyers have said.“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care. 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,” lawyers for Pike said in a statement.Her lawyers said they are grateful for the first responders and the medical team at the hospital “who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.The statement was the first indication that Pike has improved since an ambulance took her from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.READ MOREA spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction said she could provide no information other than that Pike remained in hospital on Tuesday.Emergency vehicles arrive at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution after the execution of Christa Pike was halted. Photograph: George Walker/AP Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as the authorities attempted to put her to death for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The lethal injection drug did not kill her, but her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered.Dr Joel Zivot, a professor of anaesthesiology and surgery in Atlanta who consulted as an expert for Pike’s legal team, said the development “bodes well for a good recovery”.But, he added, it could be weeks or months before anyone knows exactly what Pike’s recovery might look like, and whether her competency could be restored to a level that might enable the state to try again to execute her.“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.”Pike’s lawyers are set to go to court on Wednesday as they seek to learn more about what happened in the failed lethal injection.They are seeking a court order requiring the Tennessee Department of Correction to preserve evidence, including drug lot numbers, records and other information from the attempted execution on September 30th.Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles scheduled a Wednesday morning status conference in the case. – AP