Christa Pike, in first statement since botched execution, says she’s been in pain every moment since waking up

Updated on: October 30, 2026 / 10:39 AM EDT / CBS News

Christa Pike, who survived a botched execution attempt in Tennessee last month, said Friday that she's been in pain every moment since she woke up confused in the hospital.

Pike said she'd entered the execution chamber having said her goodbyes, adding, "I had not contemplated life beyond that night."

"Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain," she said in a statement dictated to her lawyers. "There hasn't been a moment since that night when I haven't been in pain. My body hurts. My arms hurt. My hands hurt. My throat hurts. I still struggle to speak. And the pain isn't just physical. There is pain in my mind and in my soul."

Her statement was released exactly one month after surviving the execution attempt. It is the first public comment she has made since.

Pike, 50, was given two doses of a lethal injection drug, but her legal team confirmed shortly after the failed procedure that, in an unprecedented turn, she was alive and had been hospitalized. One witness, a media attendee, noted she could be heard loudly snoring about one…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/