Christa Pike, a Tennessee death row inmate who survived a failed lethal injection last month, says she remains in constant pain and is struggling to speak.
According to the Associated Press, the 50-year-old issued her first public statement on Friday, describing the physical and emotional suffering she has experienced since her attempted execution on 30 September.
“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. And the pain isn’t just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul,” Pike said.
Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital during her scheduled execution for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.
Her lawyers said the failed procedure left her arms burned and blistered. She was initially unconscious and required a ventilator while hospitalised.
“I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position,” Pike said.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has ordered an investigation into the failed execution and postponed another scheduled lethal injection. The state’s prison chief has since resigned.
Pike’s lawyers are seeking to have her death sentence reduced to life imprisonment.
Pike, who has returned to prison, said she was grateful to the medical workers who saved her life and was now focusing on recovery.
