Christa Pike lawyers say she is speaking one week after failed execution

The 50-year-old has regained consciousness and is receiving care nearly one week after being sent to the hospital following a botched lethal injection.Lawyers for Christa Pike say she is awake and able to speak after her botched execution attempt by the state of Tennessee on September 30.Tuesday’s statement marks the first public indication that Pike’s condition has improved after she was transported to a Nashville hospital after receiving two doses of pentobarbitol, lethal injections intended to end her life.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Tennessee prisons official resigns after Christa Pike’s failed US executionlist 2 of 3Christa Pike unconscious, on ventilator after botched execution: Lawyerslist 3 of 3Christa Pike seeks firing squad, not lethal injection: Inside US executionsend of listHer failed execution has sparked debate about the use of the death penalty in the United States. Pike is thought to be the first person to have survived such an injection in the country.“Against all odds, Christa Pike is conscious, speaking, and continues to receive critical medical care,” Pike’s lawyers said in a statement.“Despite the severe damage she endured to her arms, she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. Her recovery is medically unprecedented. Her prognosis remains unclear but, at a minimum, we expect a long recovery.”The statement also expresses gratitude to medical workers who the lawyers say have “treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her”.Pike’s lawyers had previously stated that she was unconscious and on a ventilator. They described her arms as “swollen, burned and blistered” by the failed execution.Pike was convicted and sentenced to die in 1996 for her participation in the murder of a classmate, Colleen Slemmer, when she was 18 years old. Two co-defendants received lesser sentences.Pike’s defence lawyers had pointed to her mental health struggles in their attempts to commute her sentence. But the Slemmer family had advocated for the death penalty, pointing to the violent nature of the 19-year-old’s murder.