Christa Pike issues her first statement since botched execution that left her hospitalised

Death row inmate Christa Pike has broken her silence following her botched execution.

She issued a lengthy statement via her legal team on Friday (30 October) - exactly one month after she survived two doses of the lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

The statement read: "One month ago on September 30, I walked into the execution chamber at Riverbend men’s prison prepared to die. I had made my peace.

"I had told the people who loved me, supported me and stood by me through the years I was grateful for them. I had also told the people in the room and who were there to witness my execution that I was leaving them in loving kindness."

READ MORE: Full timeline of Christa Pike's case as she issues first statement since botched execution

Christa Pike has broken her silence on her botched execution (ABC)

It continued: "Several days later I woke up alone in a hospital confused and in pain. 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."

Pike wrote: "I am recovering, and I know that I am getting stronger. But healing is not the same as being okay.

(Tennessee Department of Correction/WBIR-TV)

"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. I spent 28 years in solitary confinement, and much of what I am experiencing today is a repeat of that condition.

"I am searching for meaning in what happened to me. One thing that has given me strength is the extraordinary love and support I have received from people around the world. I am overwhelmed by the kindness and prayers of people I have known for years and complete strangers who have never met me."

Pike said there is pain in her 'mind' and 'soul' (BBC)

She added: "To know that so many people care about me, that they see me as a human being whose life matters, is something I cannot fully put into words. It is humbling, and it has touched me more deeply than I can explain.

"I also want to thank the first responders, doctors, nurses, and everyone at the hospital who cared for me. They treated me with compassion, dignity and respect. I will never forget their kindness. I also want to thank my attorneys and everyone who has fought for me, stood beside me, and refused to give up on me."

Pike concluded: "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. And I am holding on to the love and kindness of so many people who have reminded me that I am not alone."

Pike was due to be executed on 30 September, more than three decades after she was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of 19-year-old fellow Job Corps student Colleen Slemmer.

Pike is on death row for brutally murdering her JobsCorp classmate Colleen Slemmer (First Coast News/ABC)

She said what she thought would be her final words and was injected with two doses of pentobarbital, but shockingly, she was still alive afterwards and was rushed to hospital.

Pike was unconscious on a ventilator for five days, and her attorneys didn’t expect her to survive; however, she's since made significant strides in her recovery and is currently back at the Debra K Johnson Rehabilitation Centre, the women’s prison where she was housed for 30 years.

Her statement comes just after Tennessee Governor Bill Lee spoke out on whether the state will try to execute Pike again, or if he would instead commute her sentence to life in prison.

Lee told WSMV: "As it relates 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."