Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived two doses of lethal injection on Sept. 30, is walking with assistance, regaining some movement in her arms and has begun eating again, her attorneys reported Thursday. The updates mark a significant turnaround from days earlier, when her legal team had described her as effectively brain dead following the failed execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

Pike's attorneys described her recovery as "remarkable" and "profound," crediting the medical team caring for her. However, they cautioned that significant questions remain about long-term effects from the two doses of pentobarbital administered during the execution attempt, and that her arms remain severely swollen and of limited function. Her lawyers also noted she is experiencing cognitive difficulties including problems with concentration and memory, and that physicians say it could take months to determine whether those impairments are permanent.

Pike's legal team said she is grappling with the psychological aftermath of the failed execution, describing her as traumatized by "the terror, pain and uncertainty of believing she was about to die." Despite that, her attorneys said she has expressed concern for the family of her victim, Colleen Slemmer, whose mother, May Martinez, witnessed the botched execution after waiting more than 30 years for Pike's death. Martinez has said Pike never apologized for the killing and that Pike's execution would have delivered justice for her daughter.

Pike, now 50, was sentenced to death for the 1995 torture and murder of 19-year-old Slemmer, which she carried out alongside her then-boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp. Shipp, who was 17 at the time, was spared the death penalty on account of his age and remains in prison. Pike was 18 when the crime was committed. A court has ordered state officials to preserve all evidence related to the failed execution, which could form the basis of a future lawsuit against Tennessee.

Pike's attorneys have repeatedly called on Gov. Bill Lee to commute her sentence to life in prison, arguing she has "endured more than enough" and should not face a second execution attempt. Lee has not responded to those calls. Speaking to reporters Oct. 1, Lee called the botched execution a "tragedy" but reaffirmed his commitment to carrying out death sentences handed down by Tennessee juries, leaving open the possibility that Pike could face a second execution. Legal experts have described Pike's situation as unprecedented, as she is believed to be the only person to have survived a lethal injection execution attempt.