Christa Pike has taken her first steps with assistance, just one week after a failed attempt to execute the Tennessee woman left her in critical condition, her lawyers said.<\/p>\n
Pike, 50, survived two doses of pentobarbital as the state sought to put her to death<\/a> eight days ago for the 1995 beating and stabbing death of classmate Colleen Slemmer. The drug didn\u2019t kill her<\/a>, and her lawyers said her arms were left burned and blistered. For the first few days of her hospitalisation, Pike was unconscious and on a ventilator.<\/p>\n Her first steps on Wednesday were \u201climited\u201d, and she required some assistance as she walked. She was also able to eat for the first time, her attorneys said.<\/p>\n But they also warned in a statement that there was still uncertainty about her future from both a physical and legal standpoint.<\/p>\n Fifty-year-old convicted for torturing and killing a classmate in the nineties but survived her execution. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n The failed execution on September 30 has renewed scrutiny of how states carry out the death penalty. Texas yesterday carried out the first execution<\/a> in the US since the Tennessee attempt.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile her physical recovery has been remarkable, significant questions remain about the long-term effects of what she endured,\u201d her attorneys wrote in a statement. \u201cChrista is dealing with the profound psychological trauma of having survived a failed execution, including the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die.\u201d<\/p>\n Pike regained consciousness on Wednesday, when she awoke and was able to speak<\/a>, they said.<\/p>\n They initially described Pike as \u201cangry and confused\u201d in the hours after regaining consciousness, and added that she continued to have challenges with concentration and memory. Doctors said that it is too early to tell what the long-term effects will be, the attorneys added.<\/p>\n