US convict Christa Pike recounts ordeal after botched execution attempt

Christa Pike, the US death row inmate who survived an attempted execution by lethal injection last month, has issued her first public statement, saying her body is hurting from the botched execution. The 50-year-old, who would have become the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years, made the remarks in a statement issued by her legal team, NCB reported.

“Since that night, I haven’t had a single moment without pain. My body, arms, hands and throat all hurt, and I continue to struggle to speak. The suffering, however, goes beyond the physical. It also affects my mind and soul,” the statement quoted her as saying. “I am recovering and know that I am getting stronger. But healing does not mean that I am okay,” she added.

Pike recalled the day of her scheduled execution, saying she entered the death chamber “at peace and prepared to die”, and criticised authorities for their “incompetence."

“I had never imagined a life beyond that night. I am deeply hurt by the incompetence that has placed so many people in this terrible situation. I don’t know why I survived, nor do I know what lies ahead. Some days, finding hope is more difficult than others,” she said.

Pike also acknowledged the suffering of the family of her victim, Colleen Slemmer, a 19-year-old classmate whom she killed in 1995. Pike was 18 at the time, and, according to investigators, she viewed Slemmer as a “romantic rival."

“I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured. I am grateful to the first responders, doctors and nurses who treated me with compassion, dignity and respect,” she stated. “I am trying to heal, one day at a time, and holding on to the love and kindness of those who have reminded me that I am not alone,” she concluded.

Pike, believed to be the first person to survive a lethal injection after the execution drugs had already been administered, was discharged from hospital and returned to her prison in Nashville 10 days after the execution attempt failed on September 30.