According to documents obtained by PEOPLE, Pike’s lawyers raised concerns about her medical condition nine months before the failed execution attempt in Tennessee. Her legal team warned that her diagnosis could expose her to “unnecessary and superadded pain and suffering, terror, and disgrace.”
The complaint stated that Pike’s platelet count was significantly elevated, likely because of a rare blood cancer known as myeloproliferative disorder.
Her attorney also warned that the condition could increase the risk of pulmonary edema, describing the experience as potentially involving a terrifying sensation of suffocation or drowning.
“A pulmonary edema is not simply painful or uncomfortable; it can create a sense of suffocating or drowning that has been likened by experts to the sensation intentionally induced by the practice of waterboarding,” the filing stated.
Pike’s lawyers also highlighted concerns about her veins and changes to the execution protocol that would prevent immediate telephone access during the procedure.
The revelation comes as Pike fights against being transferred from the medical ward at the Debra K. Johnson Rehabilitation Center, where she has remained in solitary confinement since surviving a failed lethal injection on September 30.
In an emergency motion filed in federal court, the 50-year-old claimed that returning to her former prison unit would put her life at risk.
Pike described the housing unit as a dangerous environment populated by inmates with histories of violence and disciplinary problems.
“This pod houses inmates with significant histories of assaults and disciplinary problems,” she wrote.
She further claimed that she had witnessed multiple assaults involving inmates and prison officers, as well as prisoners experiencing serious psychological breakdowns.
“In my current physical condition, I could not defend myself or get away if another inmate attacked me. I am afraid that I will be seriously hurt if I am moved to that pod while I am this weak,” her statement continued.
Pike’s survival has drawn significant attention after her legal team reportedly believed she was brain-dead on October 5 and expected doctors to remove her from life support the following day. However, she regained consciousness and eventually began speaking in full sentences.
Although she continues to receive medical treatment for injuries sustained during the execution attempt, her lawyers argue that keeping her in the prison infirmary without “meaningful human contact” violates a 2024 settlement agreement with the Tennessee Department of Correction.
The agreement allows Pike to work, eat and socialise with other prisoners, provided she is not returned to her former housing unit.
Her latest motion asks a federal judge to restore those conditions of confinement while ensuring she is not placed in the unit she fears.
“This renewed isolation, coming right after the execution attempt and after twenty-eight years of solitary confinement, is causing me serious psychological harm and trauma,” Pike stated.
“Each day I remain in isolation adds to that harm.”
Following the failed execution, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee suspended executions across the state for the remainder of the year and ordered an independent investigation into what happened.
The controversy also led to the resignation of Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada.
