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NASHVILLE, Tennessee: Christa Pike has begun walking and eating again at a hospital a week after surviving Tennessee\u2019s attempt to execute her with lethal drugs, her attorneys said Thursday.<\/p>\n
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to giver her a lethal injection eight days ago for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The drug didn\u2019t kill her, and her arms were left burned and blistered, according to her lawyers. For the first few days of her hospitalization, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator.<\/p>\n
Her first steps on Wednesday were \u201climited\u201d and she required some assistance as she walked on Thursday, her lawyers said in a statement. She is also regaining mobility in her arms, and she was able to eat for the first time.<\/p>\n
But the lawyers warned uncertainty remains about her physical recovery and her legal standing after the attempt to carry out her death sentence.<\/p>\n
Questions remain about Pike\u2019s recovery and legal case<\/p>\n
The failed execution on Sept. 30 has renewed scrutiny of how states carry out the death penalty. Texas on Wednesday carried out the first execution in the US since the Tennessee attempt.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,\u201d her attorneys said in Thursday\u2019s statement. \u201cChrista is dealing with the profound psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pike regained consciousness Tuesday and was able to speak after awakening, they said.<\/p>\n
They initially described her as \u201cangry and confused\u201d soon after regaining consciousness, and said Thursday that she continued to struggle with concentration and memory. Doctors say it is too early to assess the long-term impacts, the attorneys added.<\/p>\n
It also remains unclear whether Tennessee will try to execute her again. Her attorneys have said that they will urge Republican Gov. Bill Lee to commute her death sentence to life in prison without parole.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe should never be subjected to another execution attempt,\u201d they said in the statement.<\/p>\n
What went wrong with the execution remains unclear<\/p>\n
Lee has since postponed the state\u2019s only other scheduled execution this year and ordered a review of why the execution failed. The state\u2019s prison chief resigned after the execution attempt.<\/p>\n
Medical and lethal injection experts have focused on whether a problem with the IV line caused the drug to pool in her tissue instead of entering her bloodstream.<\/p>\n
Pike\u2019s attorneys wrote in a court filing that \u201capparently at no point did any member of the execution team realize that the IV lines were not correctly placed.\u201d<\/p>\n
State officials have offered no explanation of what occurred.<\/p>\n
As the process got underway Pike was asked if she had a final statement and she spoke of being at peace. About five minutes later, she raised her head and said her arm hurt. Later, she appeared to lose consciousness but could be heard breathing heavily until media witnesses were escorted from the witness room nearly 90 minutes into the execution. An ambulance took her to a hospital.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n