Murderer Christa Pike, who survived a botched execution attempt, has spoken out for the first time, saying she has been in constant pain ever since.
Pike's September 30 execution failed when she woke up after being given two doses of pentobarbital by state officials in Tennessee.
In a statement, Pike, 50, said: '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.
'I had not contemplated life beyond that night, and I’m deeply hurt by the incompetence that has put so many people in this terrible position.
'I continue to think about my victim’s family and the terrible pain and loss they have endured.
'I am recovering, and I know that I am getting stronger. But healing is not the same as being OK.
Christa Pike survived a botched execution in Tennessee and was rushed to the hospital, from where she has since been discharged
Her September 30 execution failed when she woke up after being given two doses of pentobarbital
'Since that night, I have been largely isolated in the prison’s medical ward, away from other people and the human connections that mean so much to me. That isolation brings its own kind of pain.'
During last month's procedure, Pike reportedly cried out, 'My arm feels like it's about to burst open,' before asking at another point: 'Does this happen like that?'
When she was later taken to the hospital, both arms were swollen, burned and blistered from the drug.
Her attorneys likened the damage to exposure to bleach or Drano, the chemical used to clear clogged household drains and pipes.
Her lawyers said they believed faulty IV lines had caused the pentobarbital to flow into the tissue of her arms rather than directly into her bloodstream.
Pike was discharged from the hospital this month and returned to the women's prison where she has spent the past 30 years.
She has been behind bars since 1995 for the beating and stabbing death of her classmate Colleen Slemmer.
Pike was on Tennessee's death row for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer (pictured)
Pike receiving her death sentence in 1996
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said this week that Pike was still likely to be executed despite surviving the previous botched attempts. Lee has paused all executions this year.
He told WSMV News: 'As it related to a particular individual like Christa Pike and her crime, she's still incarcerated under the laws of the State of Tennessee.
'I suspect her sentence will be the same as before unless determined otherwise by the courts.'
Governor Bill Lee said Pike was still likely to be executed despite surviving the botched attempts to execute her
Meanwhile, a Tennessee judge has ordered the state to preserve all evidence from her failed execution.
Assistant Attorney General John Ayers did not object to the request, noting there was no pending execution order for Pike and insisting that the Department of Correction had already preserved the evidence from her attempted execution.
He added that log books, observation logs, medical waste and products, and electrocardiogram readouts had been saved.
It was recently revealed that local and state police were left confused and incredulous after prison officials first reported that Pike survived her execution attempt – with one dispatcher even believing it was a false report.
Pike was just 18 when she and her then boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, beat and killed 19-year-old Ms Slemmer.
Prosecutors said Pike, fearing Ms Slemmer was trying to steal her boyfriend, lured her to a wooded area, cut her with a box cutter and beat her with a large chunk of asphalt.
Shipp then carved a pentagram into the victim's body. He was 17 when the crime was committed and received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole, with Pike being the only one sentenced to death.
