US3 min(s) read
Christa Pike's lawyer reveals her first words after waking up in hospital
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
Christa Pike's lawyers have revealed her first words upon waking up after her botched execution.
Pike, now 50, was supposed to die on September 30th, but things didn't go to plan and she ended up in the hospital.
Christa Pike's lawyers give update on courthouse steps
As the discussion about what happens next to Pike continues, her attorneys traveled to the courthouse in Nashville to make a case for how she should be treated.
They argued that she should be given access to contact with family, friends and legal representatives, as well as asking that she be unshackled from the handcuffs that she is currently in.
Not much is known about her current physical condition, although her attorneys did give a full account as they understand it.
One of her representatives, attorney Randy Spivey, said: "On Monday night it was our understanding that Christa was brain dead and that life support would be removed the following day.
"On Tuesday, to the shock of everyone... Christa woke up and began talking.
"I do not have an explanation for what happened between Monday night and Tuesday morning, but what we do know is that Christa has a long road to recovery.
She has a blood clot in one of her arms; she has pneumonia, she is not able to swallow yet so she has not eaten, she cannot move either of her arms, both of her arms and hands are tremndoisly swollen and we do not know what if any functions she will regain in her arms.
"That is just the physical toll that all of this has taken.
"Neither we nor Christa have even begun to process what this means for her mental health, Christa was at peace, she helped the execution team find what they thought was venous access, she was kind and polite as they worked for an hour stabbing her arm with needle after needle and then she felt the burn of the pentobarbital.
"Then she woke up in hospital surrounded by people she didn't know, with a tube down her neck.
"We don't know the toll all of this will take, but Christa is a survivor and we remain hopeful.
"All of this was foreseeable and foreseen; what happened to Christa is exactly what the state was warned would happen and there are so many questions that need to be answered - not by Christa, but by the state of Tennessee.
"One of those questions has to be, how much suffering is enough?"
When pressed for her first words upon waking, he added: "I was not in the room when she woke up so I don't want to speculate too much, but our understanding was that the first thing she said was 'where am I and who are you?'
"There is still a lot of confusion, so I will say that."
"She has asked about several people; she has asked about her team, she has asked about the victims family, she is angry and confused about everything right now."