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A 50-year-old death row inmate in the United States has been discharged from hospital and returned to prison after surviving an execution attempt in which she received two doses of a lethal injection drug.
Christa Pike, who was scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Sept. 30, survived despite being administered two doses of pentobarbital, a drug used in lethal injections. Her attorneys said she did not completely lose consciousness and her heart continued beating during the procedure.
Pike was subsequently hospitalized and regained consciousness on Oct. 6 before being discharged and transferred back to the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center in Nashville, where she has been held for more than three decades.
According to her legal team, Pike continues to receive medical care following the failed execution, with her recovery being closely monitored.
Medical specialists will assess whether the incident has caused lasting cognitive damage, although determining the full extent of any long-term effects could take several months.
Her attorneys previously reported that Pike had survived an unprecedented medical situation after receiving the lethal drugs, with experts describing the outcome as highly unusual.
Pike was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer, committed when Pike was 18 years old.
Had the execution been completed, she would have become the first woman executed in Tennessee in more than two centuries.
Her survival has drawn attention to the state's lethal injection procedures, with Tennessee authorities suspending further executions in 2026 pending an investigation.
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