Death row inmate Pike back in hospital since botched execution

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 3 Nov, 11:30 · Archive

Christa Pike, who survived a failed execution in Tennessee in September, has returned to hospital at least once since her discharge.

Christa Pike survived a botched execution in Tennessee on 30 September after receiving two massive doses of pentobarbital, the drug used in lethal injections. The execution attempt left her arms burned and blistered. According to 911 dispatch recordings, it took 31 minutes for prison officials to confirm that emergency medical assistance was needed after confusion between prison staff and first responders delayed the response.

Pike spent days unconscious on a ventilator in intensive care in Nashville, with doctors fearing she was brain-dead. She defied expectations by waking up, regaining the ability to speak, and was discharged from hospital on 9 October. In a personal declaration filed by her legal team and obtained by PEOPLE, she revealed she has since returned to the emergency room once, though she was not readmitted for inpatient care.

Pike alleges that she has been forced to carry out tasks that put her at a 'high risk of infection and further injury', including cleaning a 'roach-infested shower'. She says she wants to rejoin the prison population but cannot return to her previous housing unit, which she claims contains inmates with 'significant histories of assaults and disciplinary problems'. Pike says she has experienced ongoing pain since the execution attempt and continues to struggle to speak.

How it is being reported

• Christa Pike says she’s been back in ER since her botched execution and forced to clean roach-infested showerPike alleges that she has been forced to complete tasks that put her at ‘high risk of infection and further injury’Independent World · 3 Nov, 11:09
• Christa Pike rushed to hospital AGAIN just days after prison returnSince the failed execution of death row inmate Christa Pike on October 30 she has returned to hospital at least once she has revealed in a bombshell personal declarationThe Mirror · 3 Nov, 02:03

In this story: Christa Pike · Tennessee · Nashville · Colleen Slemmer

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