Victim of Chimp Attack Discharged from Hospital
May 7, 2010— -- A Connecticut woman whose face was left virtually featureless after she was mauled by a friend's chimpanzee has been discharged from the Cleveland Clinic and will move to a Boston-area assisted living center where she will continue to undergo therapy, her lawyer told ABCNews.com.
Charla Nash, 56, took a private plane Thursday to Boston to an assisted-living residence where she will undergo physical and occupational therapy to "learn skills that will hopefully allow her to be independent," said William Monaco, Nash's attorney.
Nash was attacked in November 2009, when her friend and employer, Sandra Herold, asked for help luring her 200-pound ape, Travis, back into the room-sized cage she kept in her suburban home.
After the near-fatal attack, Nash was transferred to the Cleveland, Ohio hospital where she underwent several reconstructive surgeries.
"Ms. Charla Nash has made great progress in her recovery. She is doing well and has been discharged from the Cleveland Clinic," the hospital said in a statement. "Throughout her stay she has touched the lives of many of our employees; we wish Charla and her family all the best."
Nash lost most of both hands, but had a thumb surgically replaced on her left hand. Doctors removed her eyes and grafted a piece of her leg where her nose used to be.
She has a small slit where her mouth once was. Through it, she takes all her meals by straw.
"She's doing a little bit better," said Monaco. "She still has challenges and still must take food by liquid or pureed. She is at a stage where she is stable, but still has physical issues."
"I'm not a candidate for a hand transplant because I have no eyesight. I hope somewhere along the way to get a face transplant and get a hand transplant at the same time," Nash told Oprah Winfrey in November 2009, her first interview since the attack.
