Charla Nash, Victim of Chimp Attack, Evaluated for Face Transplant
May 10, 2010— -- Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman whose face and hands were destroyed by a chimpanzee, may yet be a candidate for a face and hand transplant, even though doctors initially told her she was not eligible for the lengthy and dangerous surgeries.
Nash, 56, who last week was discharged from the Cleveland Clinic, is currently being evaluated by a team of physicians in Boston to determine if surgery can replace the nose, lips, eyes and fingers she lost in February 2009, when she was mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee owned by her friend and employer.
"Charla Nash is at Brigham and Women's Hospital for a preliminary evaluation to determine if she is a potential candidate for face and hand transplant. We expect her to be at Brigham and Women's for a couple of days," hospital spokesman Peter Brown said in a statement.
Nash underwent several surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic, but physicians there said it was unlikely face and hand transplants could be performed simultaneously.
"Charla has a number of options before her, all of them positive options," said John Orr, Nash's spokesman.
"Further evaluation and consultation are necessary. There are still a lot of dots to connect here. She's getting better and she is mentally bright. We're considering a lot of scenarios at a number of places around the country. Right now she moved to Boston to be closer to her home, daughter who is starting college and her brothers," he said.
Nash left Cleveland on May 6, after nearly a year and half there, where she underwent surgery and regular rehabilitation. After her evaluation at Brigham and Women's she will live at an assisted living center near Boston.
Doctors said Nash's blindness made it unlikely that she would be approved for a hand transplant, given the difficulty she would have using a new hand if she were unable to see.
"A double transplant makes finding a donor more difficult, although face is the primary determinant of donor selection, hand must match as well," said Dr. Richard Winters of the department of facial and plastic surgery at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. He spoke to ABCNews.com earlier this year when Nash first revealed on the Oprah Winfrey show both her mangled face and her desire to receive a transplant.
