Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a botched lethal injection last month, has spoken publicly for the first time since the failed execution.

Pike revealed that she continues to experience severe physical and emotional pain.

In a statement released through her lawyers on Friday, October 30, 2026, exactly one month after the failed execution, the 50-year-old said she had been struggling with pain since waking up in hospital.

“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,” she said.

Pike revealed that she had entered the execution chamber on September 30 prepared to die, having already said her goodbyes to people who had supported her over the years.

She said she had made peace with her fate and had not considered the possibility of surviving the execution.

“Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain,” she added.

Pike also criticised the handling of the execution, saying she was deeply hurt by the incompetence that had resulted in her current situation.

She further acknowledged the suffering of her victim’s family, saying she continued to think about the pain and loss they had endured.

The failed execution occurred at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee, where officials attempted to administer the lethal injection drug pentobarbital.

According to reports, the execution team struggled to establish an intravenous line before administering two doses of the drug. 

Pike was subsequently taken to hospital, where she spent several days unconscious and on a ventilator before regaining consciousness.

Her attorneys said she sustained injuries to her arms, which were left swollen and blistered following the procedure.

Pike was later transferred back to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, where she is receiving further medical care. 

She said her continued isolation in the prison’s medical ward had also been difficult, particularly after spending 28 years in solitary confinement.

Despite her ordeal, Pike expressed gratitude to the medical personnel who treated her, her legal team and members of the public who had offered support.

“I don’t know why I survived that night. I don’t know what comes next. Some days, finding hope is harder than others. For now, I am trying to heal, one day at a time,” she said.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, whom she tortured and killed alongside her boyfriend when she was 18.

The killing, which took place in a wooded area near the University of Tennessee campus, involved severe physical violence and remains the reason for her death sentence.

Following the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee ordered an investigation into what happened and postponed another scheduled execution in the state.

Pike’s lawyers have since appealed for her death sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment. 

However, Lee has indicated that her sentence is likely to remain unchanged unless the courts determine otherwise.