Christa Pike became the first person to survive a lethal injection after being given two doses of the lethal drug pentobarbital in Tennessee
Confusing 911 call reveals what happened after Christa Pike’s botched execution
Death row inmate Christa Pike says she “doesn’t know what comes next” after waking up “confused and in pain” from her failed execution.
Pike who was sentenced to death for killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995 became the first person to survive a lethal injection after being given two doses of pentobarbital.
She has now issued a statement through her legal team following the botched execution attempt on September 30, saying that there has been a night “when she hasn’t been in pain”.
Pike has since been returned to prison (Image: WVLT 8)
The execution team began trying to place the two IVs required by Tennessee’s execution protocols at 6.34pm and then she was taken to hospital at about 9.11pm with an initial delay from emergency services due to confusion over whether she was still alive. The death row inmate’s own lawyer had to call for an ambulance amid chaotic scenes of confusion.
She was put on a ventilator and her lawyers said they did not expect her to survive before she woke up and was discharged from hospital on October 10 before being returned to prison.
Pike who was sentenced to death for killing 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer(Image: Tennessee Department of Correction/AFP via Getty Images)
And now in a statement she said: “One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men’s prison prepared to die.
“I had made my peace. I had told the people who loved me, supported me and stood by me through the years I was grateful for them. I had also told the people in the room and who were there to witness my execution that I was leaving them in loving kindness.
“Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain. 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.
Emergency vehicles arriving at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution (Image: AP Photo/George Walker IV)
“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 okay.”
The Tennessee execution team members failed multiple times to establish working IV lines in Pike’s arms before her attempted execution and warned that some of her veins may have ruptured, or “blown,” before she was injected with the lethal drug, her lawyer wrote in a court document filed last week.
The IV team went through about 10 needles and tried several IV sites on both arms, said her lawyer Randy Spivey wrote in the document, which provides the most detailed account of the execution attempt so far. They even struggled to push saline through the last IV site they established, Spivey wrote.
A prison warden said that the execution teams did not practice inserting IV lines during training sessions in testimony after the failed attempt.
Witnesses have since detailed the horrific sounds they heard as Christa Pike’s executioners hid her behind a curtain during her botched execution. Press witness Steven Hale of the Nashville Banner said: “The doctor wasn’t certifying Pike’s death. We could all hear her breathing.”
Colleen Slemmer was brutally murdered in 1995(Image: WVLT 8)
Pike has told how she she doesn’t know “why she survived” or what comes next.
“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. I spent 28 years in solitary confinement and much of what I am experiencing today is a repeat of that condition,” she continued in her statement.
“I am searching for meaning in what happened to me. One thing that has given me strength is the extraordinary love and support I have received from people around the world. I am overwhelmed by the kindness and prayers of people I have known for years and complete strangers who have never met me.
“To know that so many people care about me, that they see me as a human being whose life matters, is something I cannot fully put into words. It is humbling, and it has touched me more deeply than I can explain.
“I also want to thank the first responders, doctors, nurses and everyone at the hospital who cared for me. They treated me with compassion, dignity and respect. I will never forget their kindness. I also want to thank my attorneys and everyone who has fought for me, stood beside me and refused to give up on me.
“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone.”
Pike’s attorneys have urged Tennessee Gov Bill Lee to reduce Pike’s sentence to life imprisonment but he told reporters this week that: “I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.”
Medical experts have raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive, including potential drug quality issues and the placement of IV lines causing the drug to pool in her tissue. Before the execution attempt, Pike’s attorneys told courts and prison officials that she had a blood disorder that could cause clotting at injection sites.
Medical experts have raised a few possibilities that could explain how Pike was able to survive, including potential drug quality issues and the placement of IV lines causing the drug to pool in her tissue. Before the execution attempt, Pike’s attorneys told courts and prison officials that she had a blood disorder that could cause clotting at injection sites.
