Tennessee death row inmate conscious and speaking after surviving failed execution attempt

Christa Pike, a 50-year-old death row inmate in Tennessee, is conscious and speaking after surviving a failed execution attempt, in an incident her defence team and legal experts have described as medically unprecedented.

Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer. She was 18 when she committed the crime alongside her then-boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, reports the BBC.

Pike is believed to be the only person to survive a lethal injection after a chemical toxin was successfully injected into her system.

During two failed lethal injection attempts in Tennessee, Pike was administered two doses of pentobarbital. Advising anaesthesiologist Dr Joel Zivot said the quantity would normally be fatal, but the chemical likely spread through tissue beneath her skin instead of entering her bloodstream properly.

Pike's attorneys had previously warned that her small veins and thrombocytosis, a blood-clotting condition, created a high risk of execution failure.

She was unconscious for days while hospital staff worked to clear the chemical from her body. She suffered severe damage to her arms and remains hospitalised under critical medical care while handcuffed.

Medical advisers have warned of potential long-term risks, including possible brain injury resulting from delays in resuscitation.

The incident prompted Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to suspend all executions in the state for the rest of the year. The head of Tennessee's state prison system also announced plans to resign following the failed execution.

State authorities have not provided an official explanation for what went wrong and have not said whether they intend to attempt to execute Pike again.

Pike's legal team is scheduled to appear in court in Nashville.