Results tagged “chimpmaulingvictim”

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."

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.

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."