US inmate Christa Pike says she woke up 'confused and in pain' after failed execution

US inmate Christa Pike has disclosed her experience following her failed execution in September in a statement released by her legal team on social media. Pike, who is 50, recounted the physical and emotional pain she has endured, expressing that the pain hasn't ceased since the event. She suffered from various body aches and difficulties in speaking, indicating that the pain extends beyond physical discomfort to her mind and soul.

Pike, who was discharged from the hospital at the end of the previous month after surviving two lethal injections of pentobarbital, is now back in the prison where she has served 30 years for the murder of Colleen Slemmer in 1995. Pike is reportedly the sole person to have survived an execution attempt via lethal injection. Her lawyers earlier stated that she had contracted pneumonia post-execution, exhibited significant swelling on her arms and was also unable to swallow.

In her recent statement, Pike mentioned her progress in recovery and strength but emphasized that healing doesn't equate to feeling alright. Pike was 18 when she, along with her then-partner Tadaryl Shipp, committed the brutal murder of 19-year-old Slemmer, a meeting that occurred at a job training camp for disadvantaged youths.

Shipp avoided the death penalty as he was not legally an adult during the crime, and he remains incarcerated.