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Horrifying Injuries of Woman Who Had Face and Hands Ripped Off by Pet Chimp - and Survived

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Charla Nash was attacked by chimpanzee, Travis, who belonged to her friend Sandra Herold - she suffered devastating injuries

Daily Mirror UK, 26 MAY 2020




Charla, pictured with Travis the pet chimp (Image: Internet Grab)


Charla Nash insists she's always been a survivor - and she needed all her bravery when she was left with horrifying injuries after being attacked by her friend's chimpanzee.

Charla had her face and hands ripped off by Travis the chimp in a terrifying attack.

Travis was adopted by Sandra and Jerome Herold when he was just thee days old after his mother was shot dead as she tried to escape the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary in the US.

Coming home with his adoptive parents, Travis, who was named after Sandra's favourite singer, Travis Tritt, soon became part of the family.

He was always with the devoted couple, often travelling to work with them and whenever they went shopping.

Travis was happy to pose in snaps at the Herold's trucking company and was well-known by everyone who knew the family.




Charla was a friend and employee of Travis's owner when she was attacked in 2009 (Image: Splash News/NBC)


The chimp was a recognisible figure in Jerome's tow truck, riding alongside his owner while wearing a baseball shirt and always making sure he had his seatbelt on.

He was even pals with the police officers, who he would wave to when he and Jerome were with officers as they towed a car.

Having been around humans - and part of the Herold family - almost since birth, Travis was used to people and had a fun and easy relationship with those who lived close to Sandra and Jerome.

One neighbour, who used to play wrestle witht he chimp, said: "He listened better than my nephews."

Travis even took on many of the traits of his human family - he could open locked doors with a key, dress himself, water plants and even fed hay to the Herold's horses.




Surgeons carried out seven hours of operations in the 72 hours following the attack (Image: Channel 5)


Meal times were special in the Herold house, with Travis sitting with the rest of the family at the dinner table and even drinking wine from a stemmed wine glass.

The unusual pet had a weak spot for ice-cream and even learned when the ice-cream trucks would be passing his house.

And technology was something Travis was keen to learn - he mastered being able to log onto a computer so he could look at pictures, watched TV using a remote control, and loved to watch baseball games.

Travis had even learned to drive a car and had been seen behind the wheel several times.

His presence in her home was a huge comfort for Sandra when her beloved husband, Jerome, died from cancer in 2004.




Charla's life has changed beyond all recognition because of her horrific injuries (Image: WENN.com)


This tragedy was followed by the death of the couple's only son in a car crash and Travis became a surrogate child to the grieving wife and mother.

She would sleep in the same bed as him, bathed him and pampered him.

Sandra explained: "He slept with me every night. Until you've eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don't know a chimp."

But despite his seemingly adorable behaviour, there were signs that all was not well with Travis.


In 2003, the chimp had managed to escape from the Herold's car while it was stuck in traffic.



Sandra Herold pampered Travis after she lost her husband and her son (Image: Splash News/NBC)


While they had been waiting in the rush, a person walking past had thrown something into the car and it had hit Travis through the partially opened window. The pet had calmly undone his seatbelt and chased after the man who had launched the item into the car.

Thankfully, he didn't manage to catch him but it took police several hours to entice him back to his owners and the incident led to a new law being passed in Conneticut - no one could own a primate weighing more then 50lbs.

However, even though Travis broke the rules, he was allowed to stay with his owners because authorities didn't believe he posed a risk.

Six years later they would be proved very, very wrong.




Travis was used to Charla and it's unclear why he attacked her


Charla Nash was 55 when she paid a call to her friend, Sandra.

Travis had run out of the house during the visit with Sandra's car keys and Charla went to help her pal bring him back inside.

But when he saw her holding one of his favourite toys - a Tickle Me Elmo - something snapped and Travis attacked Charla.

He had known her for several years but she had recently changed her hair and there are claims he had become startled by this and lashed out.

At the time of the gruesome attack, Travis was also taking tablets for Lyme disease.

Sandra, who was 70 at the time, desperately rushed to her friend's aid, hitting Travis with a shovel and even stabbing him.

She said later: "For me to do something like that – put a knife in him – was like putting one in myself."

Sandra then called emergency services, who initially assumed she was joking, but when she started screaming "he's eating her" into the phone they knew the chilling call was real.

Paramedics were the first at the scene but they waited before the police arrived before they approached the house - and were greeted with a truly horrifying scene.

As soon as officers were at the scene, Travis calmly walked out of the house and tried to open a door to the police car.

When he found it was locked from the outside, he smashed a wing mirror, before strolling round to the driver's door and opening it.

Officer Frank Chiafari shot him several times at point blank range and Travis made his way back to his home, where he was found dead just outside his cage.

But for Charla, life would never be the same again. She had suffered appalling injuries, which were described as "horrendous" by the emergency crews at the scene.

Travis had ripped off her hands, nose, lips, torn out her eyes and completely smashed the bones in the middle of her face.

She was rushed into surgery, where she endured a seven hour operation and her injuries were so severe that hospital staff were offered counselling because of the trauma of treating her.

Charla bravely appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show just months after the attack and revealed her injuries for the first time.

Two years later, after being deemed an appropriate candidate, Charla underwent a hand and face transplant.

While the hand transplant was initially successful, she was left devastated when they had to be removed when she developed pnemonia and other infections.

Charla, who now has a new face and will live in a care home for the rest of her life, is slowly trying to rebuild some of her life.

She has spent the years since the horrific attack working tirelessly on facial exercises so she can one day smile again.

But Charla admits that the severity of her injuries mean other residents in the care home stay away from her.

She said: "I've never been a quitter. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do. I’ve lost so much independence. I could change my own truck tyre, and now I can’t even feed myself.

"It's very hard to live. Not even live - half-live. Sometimes you want to cry, you want out, you want some kind of home. I don't know what my future is, that's the scary part."

Charla now spends her days listening to audio books and going for walks in the grounds of her care home.

She still hopes to one day return home and live independently.

Sandra died in 2010, aged 72, from a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

Meanwhile, after his head was taken to a lab to be tested for rabies, Travi was creamted at All Pets Crematory in Stamford.




Charla's eyes were ripped out, her lips torn off and the bones in the middle of her face crushed




Charla has had a face transplant, along with an unsuccessful hand transplant (Image: Barcroft)




Charla now lives in a care home, where she says she is isolated because people avoid her due to her appearance

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