Christa Pike has pneumonia and no function in her arms after failed execution, lawyer says

Christa Pike has a “long road to recovery” after Tennessee’s failed execution attempt that left her unconscious and on life support for six days, her lawyer, Randy Spivey, said at a news conference Wednesday.

In a miraculous development, Pike awoke and started speaking on Tuesday, but she is far from out of the woods. Spivey described several medical issues, including a blood clot in one arm, pneumonia, the inability to swallow and no function in her arms.

“Neither we nor Christa have even begun to process what this means for her mental health,” Spivey said.

Pike, 50, became the first person to survive two doses of a lethal injection after Tennessee attempted to execute her last week for the murder of a classmate three decades ago.

Doctors have told NBC News that it appeared most of the pentobarbital — the drug used in the lethal injection — entered her arm rather than her bloodstream, having enough power to put her to sleep but not to stop her heart or slow her breathing.

As of Monday night, Spivey said it was his understanding that Pike was brain-dead. Life support was supposed to be removed on Tuesday, he said.

“But on Tuesday…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health