Krista Gail Pike survived two lethal injections; Tennessee authorities suspended executions until the end of the year

Christa Gail Pike, sentenced to death in the US state of Tennessee, is in critical condition after surviving two lethal injections, local television station WKRN reports, citing her lawyers.

Fox News previously reported that Pike survived two lethal injections - and the execution did not take place. Tennessee authorities then ordered a pause in executions in the state until the end of the year.

"She (Pike - ed.) remains in critical condition, but is receiving life-saving medical attention," the publication said.

The team spent an hour trying to insert an intravenous catheter into her, making at least seven punctures in her left arm alone, her lawyer said. Due to difficulty finding the vein, Pike at one point began to direct where to insert the needle.

The execution was scheduled for Wednesday morning at the Riverbend maximum-security prison in Nashville, but the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the proceedings an hour before it began to consider arguments about Pike's childhood abuse. A few hours later, the US Supreme Court, at the request of the prosecutor's office, canceled this reprieve, allowing the execution of the sentence.