USA - Tennessee. Christa Pike is conscious and speaking

 USA - Tennessee. Christa Pike is conscious and speaking

Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking as she receives treatment at a hospital, her attorneys said Tuesday.

"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," attorneys for Pike said in a statement.

Her attorneys 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 carried her away from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.

Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital as Tennessee officials attempted to put her to death.

"Christa Pike conscious and speaking"

Statement from Randy Spivey and Kelly Gleason from the TN Office of the Post Conviction Defender, and Stephen Ferrell and Luke Ihnen from Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, attorneys for Christa Pike 

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.

We are incredibly grateful to the first responders and the medical team at the hospital who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her. We also want to thank thousands from all over the world who sent messages offering prayers and support for Christa.  

Christa’s life has been extraordinarily difficult. She survived multiple childhood rapes, which political leaders in this state acknowledge leave lifelong scars. She survived nearly 30 years of solitary confinement and, more recently, escalating restrictive confinement leading up to her execution date. She survived two complete rounds of lethal injection per Tennessee’s protocol, despite her attorneys’ warning to the state of specific challenges with her veins. She is the only person known to have survived a complete execution attempt in the U.S.

Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time. We continue to ask the Governor of Tennessee to commute Christa Pike’s sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.