Christa Pike says she is in constant pain and is struggling to speak in a lengthy statement released after her botched execution.
The 50-year-old shared the update on her health in a letter issued to the public via her legal team, which recounts the run-up to the failed execution last month as well as her ongoing recovery.
Saying that she was ‘prepared to die’, Pike explains that she had made her peace with the world as she was taken into the execution chamber and leaving the world in ‘loving kindness’ before waking up ‘confused and in pain’ in a hospital bed.
“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,” she said.
“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.”
Christa Pike has shared her first public statement since the failed execution (YouTube/Inside Edition)
Pike received the death sentence over the 1995 murder of Job Corps classmate Colleen Slemmer, whom she and then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp let into the woods near Knoxville, Tennessee and brutally beat to death.
The state of Tennessee attempted to carry out Pike’s sentence last month, with Pike being given two fatal doses of pentobarbital, a commonly used drug for lethal injections.
She was taken to hospital after the execution failed and was discharged back to Tennessee’s Deborah K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre earlier this month.
It is not currently known whether or not Pike will face an execution again at a later date, as Tennessee has paused all executions while an internal review is carried out.
Speaking about her current condition, Pike claimed that she has been ‘largely isolated in the prison’s medical ward’ as she attempts to come to terms with what has happened to her.
“I don’t know why I survived that night,” she concluded the letter. “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.”
Colleen Slemmer, who was murdered by Pike and Tadaryl Shipp in 1995 (Find a Grave)
Christa Pike’s statement in full
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
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