What happens next for Christa Pike as lawyers confirm she's 'conscious and speaking'

'Christa is a survivor and will take recovery one day at a time', is the message from Christa Pike's legal team following her failed execution by lethal injection.

Her lawyers say Pike is now ‘conscious and speaking’, according to The New York Times, following the botched execution in Tennessee on September 30.

Her legal team have not set out how well she is able to communicate, so the extent of her recovery remains unclear.

Pike - who was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate, 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer - had been due to become the first women executed in Tennessee in around 200 years.

Instead, the procedure at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution took an unexpected turn, as she survived two doses of the lethal pentobarbital and was left unconscious and reliant on a ventilator.

Christa Pike defied the odds by surviving two lethal injections (Christa Pike’s Legal Team)

What happens next for Christa Pike?

Things get complicated from here. The US Supreme Court has forbidden legally executing someone who does not have a 'rational understanding' of why they are receiving the death penalty.

Her attorneys say she is speaking, but it is not clear whether that means she is mentally fit to grasp being returned to death row.

Her legal team has already appealed to Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, asking him to consider allowing Pike to serve the rest of her sentence back in Prison.

Lee has also put a moratorium on state executions for the remainder of the year, though he has not officially said what he may do.

Pike's lawyers say she is ‘conscious and speaking’ after surviving the execution attempt (WTVF)

For now, Pike's fate appears to be in limbo until more is known about her long-term prognosis, which is likely to take time for medical personnel to determine.

There is also the possibility that the issue outlasts Lee's remaining months in office. Tennessee holds a gubernatorial election in November, and depending on how Pike recovers, the decision could fall to whoever is sworn in as the next governor.

So far, the picture is limited. Pike's lawyers say she is awake and speaking. The extent of her communication, her long-term prognosis and Lee's intentions have not been made public.

Whether she is mentally fit to understand a return to death row is currently uncertain.

(Family Handout)

What happened during Christa Pike's execution?

Pike was reported to have been crying, whispering and complaining of the pain in her arm - saying it felt like her arm was 'going to burst' - before she fell unconscious in front of shocked witnesses.

WPLN reporter Catherine Sweeney recalled how the curtain to the death chamber closed, but then reopened shortly after, which is when they heard Pike 'snoring'. This went on for around 40 minutes, before the curtains closed once more and the witnesses were asked to 'exit the area'.

Pike was rushed to hospital by ambulance and remained unconscious in critical condition until today.

Her lawyers expressed their gratitude to first responders 'who treated Christa like a human and have provided exceptional care to her'.