Christa Pike diagnosed with rare cancer before execution attempt that lawyers warned could botch her lethal injection

Christa Pike had been diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer before her botched execution and officials moved forward despite warnings from her lawyers that the condition could complicate lethal injections.Pike, 50, received the lethal doses of pentobarbital after decades on death row in Tennessee, but survived, which prompted Governor Bill Lee to pause all planned executions. She was rushed to the hospital and believed to have been brain dead, until she started talking and was discharged back to prison on October 9. New documents have now resurfaced from a January court filing, in which her lawyers warned that Pike's platelet count was significantly elevated, likely due to a rare form of blood cancer called 'myeloproliferative disorder,' according to a complaint obtained by People. Pike's legal team argued that an injection was 'very likely to result in unnecessary and superadded pain and suffering, terror, and disgrace.'Myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) is a disorder in which the body makes too many red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. Pike was diagnosed with MPN-related thrombocytosis, meaning she has an elevated platelet count. Pike's lawyers said that the condition increases her chances of pulmonary edema, a fluid buildup in her lungs.She had previously requested an all-female firing squad instead of a lethal injection, fearing complications, but Tennessee officials did not authorize the request since it is not a legally approved method of execution in the state. Christa Pike survived a botched execution in Tennessee on September 30 and spent 10 days in the hospital before she was discharged Pike's execution failed when she woke up after being given two doses of pentobarbital Pike receiving her death sentence in 1996 Her lawyers also noted that she had a history of difficulty with blood draws and needle insertion. Pike spent ten days in the hospital after her botched execution. Both of her arms were swollen, burned and blistered from the drug. Her lawyers said they believed faulty IV lines had caused the pentobarbital to flow into the tissue of her arms rather than directly into her bloodstream. Pike reportedly said during the execution: 'My arm feels like it's about to burst open,' before asking at another point: 'Does this happen like that?'She was discharged nearly a month ago and sent back to the women's prison where she has served her sentence. Her legal team filed an emergency motion on Friday arguing that the conditions she has been held in violated a previous agreement with the state. Pike said that since she was the only woman on death row, she was forced into solitary confinement for 28 years, which took a 'severe toll' on her emotional and physical health. In 2022, her lawyers filed a lawsuit on her behalf and reached a settlement agreement regarding the conditions of her imprisonment. However, Pike has now alleged that since returning to the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Center, she is once again in isolation and has 'no meaningful human contact apart from limited staff and medical personnel.' Pike's attorneys revealed in a January court filing that she had a rare blood condition that could complicate lethal injection. They also argued in a recent emergency motion that her prison conditions violate a previous agreement She described gruesome conditions, including a 'roach-infested shower' that puts her at a 'high risk of infection and further injury,' the motion stated. Pike also alleged that she could not return to her previous prison block because of the inmates with 'significant histories of assaults and disciplinary problems.' She said in the two years living in the pod after leaving solitary confinement, she witnessed 'multiple assaults' and fears that she could not defend herself in her current condition if sent back. Pike has advocated to participate in group meals, classes, lobby time, religious services and work assignments. On the day her legal team filed the emergency motion, Pike released a lengthy statement for the first time since her botched execution. 'There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain,' she wrote. '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.'I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.'I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.'I am recovering, and I know that I am getting stronger. But healing is not the same as being OK.'Since that night, I have been largely isolated in the prison’s medical ward, away from other people and the human connections that mean so much to me. That isolation brings its own kind of pain.' Pike was on Tennessee's death row for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer (pictured)Join the discussionShould inmates with serious health issues face execution despite risks of added suffering?What's your view?Pike has been behind bars since 1995 for the beating and stabbing death of her classmate, Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when she and her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat and killed 19-year-old Slemmer at a job training camp.Prosecutors said Pike, fearing Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, lured her to a wooded area, cut her with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt. Shipp then carved a pentagram into the victim's body. He was 17 when the crime happened and received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. Pike was the only one sentenced to death.The Daily Mail has reached out to the Tennessee Department of Correction and Pike's legal team for comment.