Strange

Charla Nash On Oprah: Chimp Victim Reveals Appearance

by amyellensoden | November 11, 2009 at 01:29 pm

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Charla Nash, the victim of a vicious attack by chimpanzee Travis back in February, appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show today. Charla Nash spoke about the incident involving her friend's 200 pound chimpanzee that mauled and blinded her, and how she is coping today. Oprah revealed Charla Nash's face from under a veil on her show today.

The chimpanzee attack caused Nash to lose both hands, nose, lips, and an eyelid. Following the attack, an infection lead to her eyes being removed. She recently found out that her eyesight would not be returning. Despite the difficult subject matter, Nash revealed her face to Oprah audiences and shared photos of her appearance as well.

The chimpanzee named Travis went berserk when his owner asked Nash to help lure him back into her house in Stamford, Connecticut.

The animal ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids.

Nash spoke on Oprah about avoiding touching her face so as not to remind herself constantly of what happened. She also revealed that she wears a veil so as not to alarm or attract the comments of others around her, especially in hospital.

She told Oprah that she feels no pain from her injuries, and isn't angry about what happened to her. Nash has been hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio since the attack and remains there in stable condition.

Her recovery process will take place in stages over the next two years at least with multiple surgeries. Even having dealt with so much adversity, Nash's courageous words of optimism for the future make her someone to be truly admired:

“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.”

Donations can be made to The Charla Nash Trust with donations going directly to the care of Charla and her daughter.