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Tennessee death row inmate Christa Pike has made her first public statement since surviving a failed execution attempt last month. In a statement released through her lawyers, Pike, 50, described experiencing constant physical, mental, and spiritual pain since the incident. She expressed gratitude for the medical staff who saved her life and the support she has received.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer. On September 30, she survived two doses of pentobarbital during her execution at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Pike said she was prepared to die and had made peace with her fate, but she woke up confused and alone in a hospital bed.
"There hasn’t been a moment since that night when I haven’t been in pain," Pike said. "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 added, according to France 24.
Pike's attorneys have urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life imprisonment. Lee has called for an investigation into the failed execution and postponed other scheduled lethal injections in the state. He stated that Pike's sentence would likely remain unchanged unless the courts decide otherwise.
Pike's statement also addressed the family of her victim, acknowledging their pain and loss. She expressed her own struggle to find hope and meaning after surviving the execution attempt. "I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others," she said, as reported by Us Magazine.
Pike remains in the prison's medical ward, where she continues to recover from the ordeal.