# Charla Nash, Connecticut woman mauled by chimpanzee, unveils face on Oprah



## min0 lee (Nov 11, 2009)

BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 				 
Originally Published:Wednesday, November 11th 2009,  2:26 PM
Updated: Wednesday, November 11th 2009,  3:33 PM




Today Show/Harpo Studios/ABC News
Charla Nash (right) appears on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Nash (left) poses before she was attacked by a chimp.  




 						                              		 		 				 					If Charla Nash still had eyes, she too would be horrified.
The Connecticut woman who was mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee revealed to the world Wednesday what was left of her face.
"The veil is lifted," Oprah Winfrey said as she helped Nash remove her hat and coverings before a stunned studio audience.


Her nose, lips and eyelids were ripped off by the berserk beast in February.
The face Nash displayed was swollen and damaged beyond recognition, with a large mound of skin where her nose had been.
Remarkably, Nash told Winfrey she feels no pain. Nor is she angry about what happened to her.


"I don't even think about it," Nash insisted on Wednesday's episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "And there's no time for that anyways because I need to heal, you know, not look backwards."


Nash said she found out just a few weeks ago that the reason she cannot see is because she no longer has eyes. She said that's a blessing, in a way.
"It's like less for me to worry about if I don't know," she said.
Nash was visiting her friend and business associate Sandra Herold in Stamford, Conn., when Herold's pet chimpanzee, Travis, attacked her.
Police later killed the chimp and Nash's family has filed a a $50 million lawsuit against Herold.


In addition to losing her face, Travis tore off Nash's hands. She's being treated at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and is forced to eat everything through a straw.
Nash said it feels like "patches of tape or gauze" are covering her face and she doesn't remember anything from the attack. She knows from having touched her face that "I have my forehead."


Nash said she tries to walk every day, even when she doesn't feel well. She says she covers her head to avoid scaring people.
"I'm the same person I've always been," she said. "I just look different."

Read more: Charla Nash, Connecticut woman mauled by chimpanzee, unveils face on Oprah
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## Arnold (Nov 11, 2009)

chimps are ruthless when they attack!


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## maniclion (Nov 11, 2009)

Did they euthanize the chimp and use his face as a replacement?  That would be freakin' awesome!!!


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## bandaidwoman (Nov 11, 2009)

When I lived Malaysia we had a pet orangutan, ( the director of the kuala lumpur zoo gave her to us to live out her last couple of years).  My father always kept her in a cage since he did not trust her to not just go bezerk even though  she was very gentle and used to have us read books to her and play with stuffed animals.  My father showed us how strong she could be by throwing in  a mac truck tire for her to play with , she snapped and stretched that thing as easily as you and I would a rubber band.  She was fucking powerful!


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## T_man (Nov 11, 2009)

fucking hell


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## Little Wing (Nov 11, 2009)

pic

http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200911/20091111-tows-charla-nash-3-290x218.jpg


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## Little Wing (Nov 11, 2009)

One thing Charla does remember, though, is that Travis the chimp had always been scary. "One time he was running around the yard and swinging off the trees of the house, and he jumped on my back and he pulled a big hunk of hair out of my head," she says. "I had tears in my eyes and [Sandra] was laughing and I told her, 'It hurts.'"

friggin outrageous! it says too she thought she'd see again that the drs were wrong until they told her it was a shame they had to remove her eyes. she'll never see her daughter's face again.


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## min0 lee (Nov 11, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> pic
> 
> http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200911/20091111-tows-charla-nash-3-290x218.jpg


Oh my....thanks, I was looking for the picture.
Now I sort of wish I didn't....

I feel bad for her.


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## Little Wing (Nov 11, 2009)

The Nash family is suing Sandra Herold for $50 million. Though Herold had no comment regarding Oprah's interview, her lawyer issued a statement. "All of Sandy's hopes and prayers are with Charla and her daughter in this challenging time. Sandy has always tried to help Charla and wished her the best. When Charla lost her job, it was Sandy who provided her with employment and a place to live. Sandy hopes and prays for a full and speedy recovery." 

i'm not sure that will pan out. Charla went over there that day to help Sandra catch Travis knowing the chimp had hurt her before.


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## I Are Baboon (Nov 11, 2009)




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## KelJu (Nov 11, 2009)

Damn! Had that been me, I would have wished for the chimp to finish the job. No hands, no eyes, no nose, no fucking face. Just step on the clutch and blow the engine, your life is over.


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## maniclion (Nov 11, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> pic
> 
> http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200911/20091111-tows-charla-nash-3-290x218.jpg


Reminds me of my second favorite Painter Goya...


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## Little Wing (Nov 11, 2009)

maniclion said:


> Reminds me of my second favorite Painter Goya...



http://www.michaelarnoldart.com/Goya painting.gif


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## min0 lee (Nov 11, 2009)

KelJu said:


> Damn! Had that been me, I would have wished for the chimp to finish the job. No hands, no eyes, no nose, no fucking face. Just step on the clutch and blow the engine, your life is over.


I agree.


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## Stewart14 (Nov 11, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> pic
> 
> http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200911/20091111-tows-charla-nash-3-290x218.jpg



so how many of you were so tempted to click this link but couldn't do it?  I know one side of my brain says click it, and the other side says stay far away, I know it will truly bother me, but that damn curiosity always keeps popping up


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## min0 lee (Nov 11, 2009)

Stewart14 said:


> so how many of you were so tempted to click this link but couldn't do it?  I know one side of my brain says click it, and the other side says stay far away, I know it will truly bother me, but that damn curiosity always keeps popping up


If you can't stomach it and view chimps in a certain way....don't click it.


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## Stewart14 (Nov 11, 2009)

min0 lee said:


> If you can't stomach it and view chimps in a certain way....don't click it.



well it has nothing to do with the chimp, I think I might have a problem seeing a woman with no face, but it's oh so tempting in a sick way


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## Little Wing (Nov 11, 2009)

humans have had violent reactions to the same medication Sandra gave her chimp. 

Chimp attack "ripped off face" of woman: Was Travis given Xanax drugs by his owner? - News - Bild.de

The owner of the domesticated animal, who was shot dead by police, claimed she had given Travis some Xanax just a few minutes before the attack in Connecticut that nearly killed her friend. 

*Sandra Herold (70) admitted to US news channel NBC that she had put Xanax in some tea she made for her pet because he was being rowdy. She later denied her earlier statement and said that the chimp had not been on drugs.*

The Dark Side of Psychiatric Drugs, part 2

According to a 1984 study, "Extreme anger and hostile behavior       emerged from eight of the first 80 patients we treated with       alprazolam [Xanax]. The responses consisted of physical assaults by       two patients, behavior potentially dangerous to others by two more,       and verbal outbursts by the remaining four." A woman who had no       history of violence before taking Xanax "erupted with screams on       the fourth day of alprazolam treatment, and held a steak knive to her       mother's throat for a few minutes."


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## Mudge (Nov 11, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> One thing Charla does remember, though, is that Travis the chimp had always been scary. "One time he was running around the yard and swinging off the trees of the house, and he jumped on my back and he pulled a big hunk of hair out of my head," she says. "I had tears in my eyes and [Sandra] was laughing and I told her, 'It hurts.'"



That bitch laughed? Some fucking friend she turned out to be.


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## AKIRA (Nov 12, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> pic
> 
> http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200911/20091111-tows-charla-nash-3-290x218.jpg



I dont get it.  How does that happen?  Looks like a chemical warfare result.


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## Arnold (Nov 12, 2009)

was the owner not present during the attack?


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## Little Wing (Nov 12, 2009)

Prince said:


> was the owner not present during the attack?



she was there she had called her friend to help catch him and get him in. i think in the initial news stories about it it said the owner was stabbing the chimp trying to get him off her friend.


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## mcguin (Nov 12, 2009)

where's the poor chimp?


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## Arnold (Nov 12, 2009)

mcguin said:


> where's the poor chimp?



I think they killed it.


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## maniclion (Nov 12, 2009)

AKIRA said:


> I dont get it.  How does that happen?  Looks like a chemical warfare result.


Looks like he grabbed her skull like a bowling ball, two fingers in the eye sockets,thumb in mouth and yanked....


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## bandaidwoman (Nov 12, 2009)

where the hell did she get the xanax for the chimp? was it her stash or did a vetnarian prescribe it?


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## Little Wing (Nov 12, 2009)

it wasn't prescribed for him hence her retracting the statement that she gave it to him. she was all kinds of irresponsible as an exotic pet owner and a friend.


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## Little Wing (Nov 12, 2009)

Each night, Sandra Herold and her beloved chimp, Travis, would share a glass of wine before snuggling in bed together. 
 The Connecticut widow says she still cannot fathom how that loving animal, whom she raised as her "child," could turn violent, but when he began to maul her friend Charla Nash Monday, Herold said she didn't hesitate to stop him - even if it meant killing him. 
 "I had to get a shovel, then a knife to get Travis off of Charlie," the visibly shaken woman said yesterday. "It was very difficult to do this, but I had to save my friend. I am so sorry for what happened to Charlie. She is my dear friend." 



       The violence began shortly after Travis consumed a meal of fish and chips and then Carvel ice cream, Herold said. He then went outside and couldn't be coaxed back in. She tried to give Travis tea with Xanax to calm him, but he wouldn't drink it, she said. 
  Herold, 70, phoned Nash for help getting Travis back into the house. 
 "When she came out of her car that she doesn't normally drive, I don't think Travis recognized her," Herold said. "She was greeting him with a teddy bear, and that's when he went wild." 
  Travis had known Nash for years, but he might have been confused by her new hairstyle. 
  "She had just got her hair done. It used to be long and brown, but she changed it to short and blond and fluffy," she said. 
  When Travis unleashed his fury on Nash, Herold stabbed the chimp repeatedly with a butcher's knife and called 911. 

Read more: SANDRA HEROLD RECOUNTS PET CHIMPANZEE ATTACK ON FRIEND
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## Arnold (Nov 12, 2009)

Little Wing said:


> Each night, Sandra Herold and her beloved chimp, Travis, would share a glass of wine before snuggling in bed together.
> The Connecticut widow says *she still cannot fathom how that loving animal, whom she raised as her "child," could turn violent, but when he began to maul her friend Charla Nash* Monday, Herold said she didn't hesitate to stop him - even if it meant killing him.



because it s a WILD animal with WILD instincts, it probably never would have attacked it owners, but maybe it felt threatened in some way with her friend being there, either way this is why no one should be allowed to keep a wild animal captive like a pet except for a zoo.


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## maniclion (Nov 12, 2009)

I have felt adverse reactions to Xanax before...instead of calming me down I would get into my manic phase....My GF's mother stood outside our house slicing my weight bench padding with a knife one night yelling out loud after taking a Xan-bar, I went outside to talk to her and she tried to stab me so I grabbed her wrist and did a take down and took the knife away, she then tried to hit me so I had to put a wrist lock on her until the cops arrived...of course she is schizo, but some how the Xanax reacted with or negated her anti-psycho med and she went berzerk....


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## I Are Baboon (Nov 12, 2009)

Nobody has turned the pic into their avatar?  Y'all are slipping.


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## Rubes11 (Nov 12, 2009)

I Are Baboon said:


> Nobody has turned the pic into their avatar?  Y'all are slipping.



if anyone turns that pic into an avatar they have problems.


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## AKIRA (Nov 12, 2009)

Yeah.  And its starts with something called a sense of humor.


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## Rubes11 (Nov 13, 2009)

AKIRA said:


> Yeah.  And its starts with something called a sense of humor.



so your saying make fun of someone who had their face ripped off by turning it into an avatar?


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## Arnold (Nov 13, 2009)

I Are Baboon said:


> Nobody has turned the pic into their avatar?  Y'all are slipping.



just not funny dude.


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## Arnold (Nov 13, 2009)

YouTube Video


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## sara (Nov 13, 2009)

I feel bad for the lady, but at the same time killing the poor confused chimpanzee was not the solution


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## I Are Baboon (Nov 13, 2009)

sara said:


> I feel bad for the lady, but at the same time killing the poor confused chimpanzee was not the solution



Yes, it was.


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## Arnold (Nov 13, 2009)

sara said:


> I feel bad for the lady, but at the same time killing the poor confused chimpanzee was not the solution



it's sad that they had the chimp as a pet in the first place, but what else do you do when your chimp starts eating your friends face off?


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## T_man (Nov 14, 2009)

I know you guys joke about some messed up shit but this time its just not funny Baboon


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## I Are Baboon (Nov 14, 2009)

T_man said:


> I know you guys joke about some messed up shit but this time its just not funny Baboon



You must be new to the internet.


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## Little Wing (Nov 14, 2009)

i wonder if they tested the chimp to see if it had alcohol and or xanax in it's system. it's sad it was killed but it may have been the only humane choice at that point. the owner said she had stabbed it "repeatedly" with a butcher knife as it attacked her friend. i'm as sorry for the chimp as i am the victim and i think the owner is responsible for this whole thing.


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## sara (Nov 15, 2009)

Prince said:


> it's sad that they had the chimp as a pet in the first place, but what else do you do when your chimp starts eating your friends face off?



give him to the zoo or something, not kill him


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## Arnold (Nov 15, 2009)

sara said:


> give him to the zoo or something, not kill him



so as the chimp was eating off her friends face and hands she should have done what to stop it? the owner stabbed the chimp to try and stop the attack.


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## sara (Nov 15, 2009)

If it was my pet, I wouldnt have had it around her to begin with, because I know chipms are wild animals.


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## Gregzs (Aug 10, 2012)

She might get this much money. She did have her hands and face ripped off. However if she does she should pay the medical bills she has already racked up.

Chimp attack victim: Let me sue state for $150M | US National Headlines | Comcast

HARTFORD, Conn. ? The state attorney general's office urged a key official on Friday to dismiss a $150 million claim filed by a woman who was mauled and disfigured by a chimpanzee that went berserk in 2009.

But the victim, who has amassed millions of dollars in medical and other bills, said she's holding out hope the claims commissioner will ultimately grant her permission to sue the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which she holds responsible for not seizing the animal despite a state biologist's warning it was dangerous.

"I hope and pray that the commissioner will give me my day in court," Charla Nash told reporters following the hearing. "And I also pray that I hope this never happens to anyone else again. It is not nice."
Nash, 57, was attacked in February 2009 by a friend's 200-pound pet chimpanzee after its owner asked Nash to help lure it back into her house in Stamford, Conn. The animal, named Travis, ripped off Nash's nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being shot to death by police.

Nash was blinded in the attack. She underwent a face and double hand transplant in 2011, but the hands failed to thrive because of complications and were removed. She said Friday she still hopes to get a double hand transplant.

Assistant Attorney General Maite Barainca told Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. that Nash deserves sympathy for her plight and admiration for the courage she has shown in dealing with her situation, but argued that the state should not be held liable for actions of the privately owned animal.

"There is no claim that the state directly caused Ms. Nash's injuries. The state did not own or possess the chimp that attacked her" and played no role in letting the chimp loose that day in 2009 on private property, said Barainca.

Charles Willinger, Nash's attorney, said his client lives in a nursing home outside Boston "in total darkness," "without eyes, without hands." He said she is "permanently scarred, emotionally, physically" and will never be able to see her daughter again or hold her hand. He said Nash "endures loneliness, despair and suffering beyond anyone's comprehension in this room," and urged Vance to be the "conscience of this state" when deciding whether to allow her to sue.
Willinger said millions of dollars in bills are mounting.

"She's on I think 17 different medications. She needs operations. She needs therapy. One day she's going to need special accommodations in her home. She's going to need 24-hour care," he said, adding how no one knows how long Nash's face transplant will last. "There are tremendous, significant bills and it's a situation of really quality of life."
Nash told described her feelings of loneliness to reporters.

"I miss home," said Nash, who wore sunglasses and a turquoise top, and was accompanied by her brother Steve. "You know, when you're in a facility, you're alone. It's hard. But I'm thankful that I'm still here."

Vance is expected to issue a decision on the state's motion to dismiss the case within 30 days. If he rules in favor of the state, Nash cannot proceed with a hearing on the merits of her claim. She could, however, appeal to the General Assembly and ask state legislators to overrule the commissioner's decision.

If, however, Vance denies the state's motion to dismiss, a trial-like hearing will be held before him. Vance would then have to decide whether to allow Nash to sue the DEEP in superior court.

Willinger contends that Travis the chimp had been on the state agency's radar since 2003, when it escaped from its owner and ran loose in Stamford. It was the only chimpanzee in the state and was commonly referred to as "the gorilla in Stamford."
State officials have contended they did not have the authority to seize the animal.

Several months before the attack, a state biologist warned state officials in a memo that the chimpanzee could seriously hurt someone if it felt threatened, saying "it is an accident waiting to happen."

In October 2008, the biologist warned that the chimpanzee had reached adult maturity and "is very large and tremendously strong." The biologist said, "I am concerned that if he feels threatened or if someone enters his territory, he could seriously hurt someone."


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## GearsMcGilf (Aug 10, 2012)

bandaidwoman said:


> When I lived Malaysia we had a pet orangutan, ( the director of the kuala lumpur zoo gave her to us to live out her last couple of years).  My father always kept her in a cage since he did not trust her to not just go bezerk even though  she was very gentle and used to have us read books to her and play with stuffed animals.  My father showed us how strong she could be by throwing in  a mac truck tire for her to play with , she snapped and stretched that thing as easily as you and I would a rubber band.  She was fucking powerful!



When I first read this, I thought you said she used to read books to y'all and play with stuffed animals.  I knew they were human-like, but damn!


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## GearsMcGilf (Aug 10, 2012)

The guy that ate the homeless dude's face reminded me of this story.  It's similar in a lot of ways.  Before the guy did it, someone in the nearby area had called 9/11 and reported that there was a naked black man standing on a brick wall shouting and acting like Tarzan.  Next thing you know, dude attacks a guy and starts eating his face.  The cop that was at the scene said that when he shouted for the guy to stop, he turned around and growled at him and went back to eating.  It sounds kinda like the guy could have been a schizophrenic, recalled hearing that story, then thought he was a chimp.  Maybe not, but it sounds like there could've been some connection in the bloke's mind.


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