The Connecticut woman whose face was ripped off by a chimpanzee in 2009 received a face transplant in May. Charla Nash's family showed a photograph of the 57-year-old, and Nash herself revealed to the Today Show that she can even smell and taste again. She said, "I’m beginning to feel my jaw and chin. And I can move my mouth and smile. I still feel weak. But little by little I’m getting stronger." more ›

After more than 20 hours of surgery Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman whose face was eaten in a bizzarre chimp attack two years ago, has a new face, doctors say (warning, the Reuters article has a graphic photograph of Nash). A team of more than 30 surgeons in Boston last week not only replaced Nash's nose, lips, facial skin, teeth, face muscles and nerves, they also performed a double hand transplant. However the hands did not "thrive" after Nash suffered complications from pneumonia and had to be removed. more ›

Sondra Herold, the Connecticut woman whose beloved 200-pound chimp Travis severely mauled her friend, died last night of an aortic aneurysm. Her lawyer said, "Ms. Herold had suffered a series of heartbreaking losses over the last several years, beginning with the death of her only child, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash. In the end, her heart, which had been broken so many times before, could take no more." more ›

A therapist told Officer Frank Chiafari to "politely decline" when asked to tell the awful story of the day Travis the chimp mauled Charla Nash in CT, ripping off her hands and face, but recently he made an exception. According to the officer—who's been denied Workers Comp for a PTSD claim after shooting the animal—it all started with a "humorous-sounding" call across the radio early last year. “[It] came over as ‘monkey attacking someone,’" he told the Times. But as he drove to scene he thought “Wait a minute, that’s Travis.” He'd met the "friendly" chimpanzee before: Travis's owners had a towing company and would sometimes bring him along when police called them to move vehicles. Chiafari pulled up he saw what looked like a pile of clothes. “Then I realized it’s a human being,” he said. “It was all ripped apart.” That's when Travis began bashing the window of his cruiser. more ›

Almost a year after a 200-pound chimpanzee named Travis mauled Charla Nash, the cop that shot the violent creature has been denied a claim for workers comp for post-traumatic stress disorder. Why? Because the law was made for officers who shoot people, and doesn't extend to the rest of the animal kingdom, the AP reports. But for the anniversary of the chimp's death, a Connecticut state senator wants to amend it to include police who fire at animals, at least those "required to use deadly force on animals that attempt to injure them." (How about rabid raccoons?) Meanwhile Nash—who lost hands, lips, nose and eyelids when the animal attacked—is in the process of suing the state for $150 million. more ›

The New Haven woman who was brutally mauled by a friend's chimpanzee last year is out of luck again—a hospital has told her it can't perform transplants on her badly disfigured face and hand. The injuries were sustained in March 2009 when Charla Nash's friend asked her to help get her perturbed pet chimp back into the house. The 200-pound animal, who went by Travis, then went berserk. He was shot by local police, but not before ripping off Nash's hand, nose, lips and eyelids leaving her permanently blind. more ›

Connecticut prosecutors have decided not to charge the owner of a chimpanzee that attacked the owner's friend and employee, leaving the woman severely disfigured. According to the Hartford Courant, "Stamford State's Attorney David Cohen said Monday that an investigation did not determine that [owner Sondra] Herold... had acted recklessly in her care of the 200-pound chimp, or that she had disregarded information that the chimp, named Travis, was dangerous." more ›

On today's Oprah, the talk show host's interview with the Connecticut chimp mauling victim will be aired. Oprah Winfrey spoke to Charla Nash, whose eyelids, nose, lips and hands were torn off by her friend and employer's 200-pound chimp, at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday; it was Nash's 56th birthday. Winfrey said of their exchange, "I will have to say I've never seen anything quite like what's happened to her, and also never felt a spirit like that that has such resolve to get better and such a sense of resilience. It really made me think that I'll never complain about another thing ever again." more ›

On tomorrow's episode of Oprah, the woman who was severely mauled by a 200-pound chimp will appear and discuss "how she's adjusting, how she maintains her spirit, and what the future holds." Charlas Nash has been recovering at the Cleveland Clinic ever since the March incident where she "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack." Back in June, her brothers said she was staying strong; more recently, her family has sued the chimp's owner and is planning on suing the state of Connecticut. more ›

The family of a woman who was severely mauled by a chimpanzee plans to sue Connecticut for $150 million. A lawyer for Charla Nash, who remains at the Cleveland Clinic after 200-pound chimp Travis chewed off her hands, nose, lips and eyelids, says, "We believe the evidence will show that the state, acting through the Department of Environmental Protection, failed to adequately address a serious public safety issue that resulted in tragic consequences for our client." (A DEP biologist had warned about Travis before the attack.) Connecticut's attorney general is reviewing the suit and told the Courant it was a "horrific tragedy" but the lawsuit "seems unprecedented in size." Nash's family is also suing Travis's owner for $50 million, but her lawyer is trying to limit her damages by calling it a worker's comp claim. more ›

Earlier this year, a Connecticut woman was severely mauled by her friend's 200-pound pet chimp Travis. Charla Nash "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack," and her family sued chimp owner Sondra Herold for $50 million in damages. Now, Herold is seeking to call the suit a worker's compensation claim—because Nash worked for her and Travis the chimp was a part of the business. more ›

The older brother of the Connecticut woman who was severely mauled by her friend's 200-pound chimpanzee in February told the Daily News, "When she gets knocked down, she gets back up...Her psychiatrist asked her if she wanted to know anything about the event. She said, 'Nope. That's in the past.'" Charla Nash has been at the Cleveland Clinic for treatment; older brother Stephen and twin brother Michael have been taking turns being with her in Ohio and caring for her daughter in Connecticut. Michael Nash said, "Her acceptance [of her injuries] just shows her courage and fortitude. She's not concerned about what happened, she just wants to get fixed," adding that the letters and cards from people wishing for her recovery have helped her. The brothers also spoke to the AP over the weekend, saying that their sister was scared of the chimp owned by Nash's friend and employer Sondra Herold, noting that Nash had welded the chimp's cage a few times. However, Herold's lawyer wonders why Nash would willing come to Herold's house if she was scared; the brothers filed a $50 million lawsuit against Herold. more ›

Connecticut's General Assembly voted yesterday to ban chimpanzees, as well as other primates, as pets. This comes nearly three months after a Stamford woman was severely mauled by her friend's pet chimp—Charla Nash "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack." The Hartford Courant reports, the "bill would add only gorillas, chimps and orangutans to the list of wild animals already prohibited under existing state law: lions, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, ocelots, bobcats and other big, wild cats — as well as wolves, coyotes and bears." An earlier version of the bill, which included animals like "baboons, kangaroos, wolverines, hyenas, elephants, hippos, alligators, crocodiles, rattlesnakes, cobras and pythons," was stalled because apparently ferrets are related to wolverines, causing concern among ferret owners. Last month, Nash's family said on the Today show that she will need at least two more years of hospital care. more ›

After saying last week that they were encouraged by their sister's progress, today the brothers of chimp mauling victim Charla Nash further discussed how she's doing on the Today show. Steve Nash said, "The psychiatrist says she understands a lot about her injuries, but she’s not interested at this time to find out how they occurred... We’re positive all the time we’re with her.... telling her she’s in the best place in the world to help with her injuries, and that she had an accident and we’re going to take care of her." Nash, who lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face, is at the Cleveland Clinic; Steve is staying in Cleveland while her twin Mike is in Connecticut, taking care of her 17-year-old daughter. Mike said, "She’s got to know that we’re still here for her and there are still a lot of reasons to keep hope there, tell her that that she has a daughter and a future and she needs to be part of it." The Cleveland Clinic says she "has made significant neurological and psychological improvement" but "Full cognitive recovery could take up to a year" and many surgeries are planned. more ›

The Connecticut woman who was severely mauled by her friend's chimpanzee is making progress, according to her brothers. Charla Nash, who is at the Cleveland Clinic (she reportedly "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face"), was upgraded to critical but stable condition from just critical condition. Stephen and Michael Nash told the AP that she said her first word—"Lisa," the name of her nurse—two weeks ago. Now she's asking for her daughter (helped by a voice box), listens to music, and "tells her nurses if she is cold, tired or wants to be left alone." However, she does not know how injured she is: "Michael Nash said that with her level of sedation reduced, she will probably start asking questions soon about why she is in the hospital -- and a trauma expert is there to help her." While it's still unclear what brain damage his sister has suffered, Stephen Nash said, "I'm a lot more optimistic now. Everything she does is going in the right direction." The Nash family has sued chimp owner Sondra Herold for $50 million in damages. more ›

A lawyer representing the family of Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman severely mauled by her friend's 200-pound chimpanzee, said an lawsuit is "imminent." Attorney Charles J. Willinger, Jr. filed preliminary papers seeking $50 million in damages from chimp owner Sondra Herold and will speak with reporters today. The AP reports the "papers seek an accounting of Herold's assets and a court order that would prevent her from selling or mortgaging them, including six pieces of property she owns and her stake in a Stamford used car dealership." Nash, who is at the Cleveland Clinic, "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack," and her recovery potential is unclear. Her twin brother and legal guardian, Michael, has stated, "No amount of money can compensate my sister for the injuries she has suffered." more ›

Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman who was severely mauled by a friend's pet chimpanzee, remains under sedation, according to her doctors at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The Stamford Advocate reports that they revealed the extent of her injuries as well: Nash, 55, "lost her nose, lips, eyelids, hands and bone structure in her mid-face and suffered significant brain, eye and tissue injuries in the attack." The hospital said that while her injuries have stabilized, "critical issues still remain related to a significant traumatic brain injury and injuries to her eyes that threaten her vision." The Stamford, CT police say the toxicology results for 200-pound chimp Travis, who was shot dead after the attack, will be available in the next few days. The decision whether the police will charge Travis's owner, Sondra Herold, (the police's criminal investigation is continuing) will take weeks. Nash's brother Stephen told the AP, "She's tougn. I'm optimistic. I think she can do it." more ›

The Connecticut woman severely injured by her friend's pet chimpanzee remains in critical condition. Charla Nash, 50, was transported to the Cleveland Clinic, which had performed a successful face transplant last December. However, it's unclear whether Nash is a good candidate for a transplant—a doctor at a different hospital told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, "Some of the traditional reconstructive techniques might not work well for this patient." more ›