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Christa Pike’s aunt reveals she was told Pike was ‘brain dead’ in hospital and they were going to 'let her die'
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Christa Pike's aunt explained what the family was told following the botched execution of the death row inmate.
Her lawyers announced yesterday (October 6) that a week after surviving the lethal injection, Pike was conscious and 'speaking' at a Nashville-area hospital.
Back in 1996, she was sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer, who was just 19 at the time.
Pike was administered two theoretically fatal doses of pentobarbital and somehow survived both, and against all odds, is now responsive.
While her long-term health is uncertain, her aunt revealed that the family was led to believe that she would never gain consciousness again.
The 50-year-old will begin an extended period of medical recovery after the prison team had struggled to establish an IV line for over an hour during the execution process.
Christa Pike's family were given bad news
According to Dr Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist who is advising her lawyers, Pike could remember her name but struggled to recall the date, believing it was still September.
Even though she has no memory of the execution attempt, the fact that Pike is alive may be a miracle in itself.
Her aunt, Carrie Ross, told the Daily Mail that Pike's family were told that the convicted murderer was declared brain dead, shortly before she regained consciousness.
The relative was also told that Pike was being unhooked from a ventilator after attempts to wake her from a coma proved unsuccessful.
But before long, she was awake and speaking in her hospital bed, as Ross recounted: "We got word that she was brain dead and they were taking her off the ventilator,
"They were going to let her go - let her die - at 1 o'clock tomorrow. That was yesterday or a day before," she said on Wednesday (October 7).
Despite Pike's recovery, Ross admitted that none of her family members have spoken to the death row inmate since she awoke.
They have instead been given information by her legal team, who said that she ‘knew who she was and where she was.’
Ross, Pike's mom's sister, concluded: "This whole week has been a blur."
Legal representatives had suggested that improper intravenous line placement or ruptured veins likely caused the lethal injection chemicals to enter surrounding tissue rather than the bloodstream directly.
Her attorneys told NBC News on Tuesday: "Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,
"Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery."
Anesthesiologist explains what Pike remembers
Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Joel Zivot, an anesthesiologist who had advised Pike’s lawyers, said: “She has some memories of being in the hospital but no memory, I believe, of the execution attempt,” before adding that Pike was capable of communicating in a “basic way.”
According to Zivot, Pike remembered her name, but couldn’t accurately guess the date, believing that it was September, rather than October.
He also revealed that she no longer required a ventilator after the pentobarbital was successfully removed from her system following the lethal injections.