Charla Nash, 56, survived an attack by a 200-pound chimp that left her without eyes, a nose or mouth. The attack occurred on Feb. 16, 2008 when the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, asked Nash, her friend and employee, to help her lure the agitated chimp named Travis back inside the house.
Nash also lost her hands and her left arm below the elbow. Nash was aware that photographers were prowling outside the Cleveland Clinic where she continues to receive treatment after last year’s much-publicized attack by Travis.
So she invited Oprah and her crew to the clinic to reveal her disfigured face on her own terms.
Nash wears a veil when she goes on daily walks so she doesn’t startle anyone. She told Oprah she can’t breath through her nose and she eats through a straw.
“I don’t even think about it,” Charla Nash said 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.”
Doctors told Nash two weeks ago she would never see again because she lost both her eyes. She said she doesn’t remember the savage attack and doesn’t want to know about her injuries. “It’s like less for me to worry about if I don’t know,” she said.
Nash’s family has asked the Connecticut’s Office of Claims Commissioner for approval to file a $150 million lawsuit against the state for failing to protect her. But a Connecticut state biologist had warned Nash and Herold that the chimp could was dangerous.
An additional $50 million suit has been filed against the chimp’s owner citing negligence. Herold’s attorney, Robert Golger, said the attack was work-related and the case should be treated as a workers’ compensation claim.
Travis was shot and killed by police following the attack.
