Christa Pike’s lawyer goes into gruesome detail over her current condition while she’s ‘shackled up to hospital bed’
Christa Pike's legal team has issued an update on her 'long road' to recovery following her botched execution.
The killer currently remains shackled to a hospital bed and is said to be 'conscious and speaking', despite two lethal doses of pentobarbital being pumped into her last week.
Lawyer Randy Spivey told reporters on Wednesday (7 October) that his client is still cognitively confused about the events that have transpired over the last several days, but 'is very aware of what they did to her'.
As the 50-year-old remains in hospital, those representing her have shared some graphic details about what her arm now looks like in wake of the failed execution attempts.
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Spivey previously told NPR that officials in Tennessee had used 'at least seven needles' while trying to administer the deadly drug, which has subsequently left her with 'extraordinary' injuries.
"She is shackled at her feet and on her right arm to the bed," he said of Pike's current condition. "Her hands looked like if you were to blow up a surgical glove."
Revealing Pike's first words after waking up on Tuesday (6 October), Spivey said that she asked: "Where am I and who are you?"
The attorney also said she has been asking about the family of her victim Colleen Slemmer, who she murdered in 1995 when she was 18 years old.
Slemmer's loved ones described the attempted execution of Pike as a 'mess' and her mother May Martinez told NBC News earlier: "They didn’t say anything, and then, all of a sudden, they asked all the victims to leave.
"And we left. We didn’t know anything until we got up to the office and saw the commissioner.
"And he said that it didn’t work, that it didn’t work, and she’s on her way to the hospital."
Pike is currently receiving 'critical medical care' and her lawyers say that the killer 'wants to know what happened' in the execution chamber. She has been left 'angry and confused about everything', Spivey said.
'A long road ahead'
Pike is said to have pneumonia as well as a blood clot in one of her arms, with Spivey saying she 'cannot move' either of these limbs.
"Both of her arms and hands are tremendously swollen, and we do not know what, if any, function she will regain in her arms," he said.
"But we do know that there’s a long road ahead."
Previously, her legal team shared a statement explaining that she had survived 'against all odds' and was conscious and speaking.
"Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed," they went on.
"Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery."
Spivey also said that Pike cannot move either of her arms and currently cannot swallow, meaning she has been unable to eat.
"We don’t know the toll all of this will take," he said. "What happened to Christa was exactly what the state was warned would happen."
READ MORE: All of the failed lethal injection executions in the last decade
It hasn't yet been confirmed whether authorities will try again to execute Pike, however, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended all executions for the remainder of the year in wake of the failed attempt.
Another member of Pike's legal team, Luke Inhen, said on Wednesday that the 'state has made no promises that Ms Pike will not be subject to a future execution'.
He told the court that 'medical personnel have requested that her hand at least be unshackled', due to the 'extensive damage done to her arms and hands'.
Speaking to NPR last week, Spivey said that doctors are currently 'dealing with the poisonous chemicals' that were pumped into Pike's body on 30 September.
What Spivey saw during the execution
Spivey said medics are 'trying to see if we can get past that, to see if there are any lasting effects and what those effects might be'.
The lawyer claimed that 'it took almost an hour' for prison staff to try and find a place to insert the IV in the execution chamber last week, saying they used 'at least seven needles' in her arm.
"One of the needles looked like it came back bent when they pulled it out," Spivey said. "And then they thought they had established the two lines, I guess.
"And the execution began, and the two doses were administered. And it's very strange to sit there and see Christa helping the IV team to where she thought they could find the best line. She was at peace.
"She was ready to die. She was polite and helpful and was trying to bless people as it was all happening.
"But then there was a moment where you realised something wasn't going right - that she was still breathing."
Olivia Burke