New Pictures: Face Transplant for Woman Mauled by Chimp Looks Remarkably Good
- Posted on August 11, 2011 at 6:26pm by
Jessie Abrams
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It’s an example of the best kind of plastic surgery.
Less than two years after being mauled by a friend’s pet chimpanzee, Charla Nash released the first pictures of her new face. She underwent surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston in May, and the hospital released this post-surgery picture on Thursday.
“I will now be able to do things I once took for granted … I will have lips and will speak clearly once again. I will be able to kiss and hug loved ones. I am tremendously grateful to the donor and her family,” Nash wrote in a statement on Thursday.
The attack happened in 2009. Nash was helping her friend persuade a 14-year-old chimp named Travis back into the house when he jumped on her. Travis left Charla Nash without a nose, eyelids, lips or hands. Police initially couldn‘t determine her gender and said they weren’t sure she would survive. They shot Travis to stop the attack and he died later from gunshot wounds. Travis could be called somewhat of a television star – he had been featured in television commercials for Coca-Cola and Old Navy.
The unprovoked attack sparked outrage from both animal rights activists and Congress. Soon after, lawmakers passed a bill prohibiting the purchase and transportation of primates across state lines. Whether the new law would’ve prevented this attack, is debatable.
Here’s what Nash looked like, when she appeared on Oprah about nine months after the initial attack. Doctors have done some work already here – they’ve attached a skin graph in the middle of her face.
At this point, Nash didn’t know the full extent of her injuries. “I don’t ask a whole lot about my injuries… I know that I have my forehead,” she said during her appearance on Oprah. Here’s Nash pictured with Travis before the attack.
The attack was a freak accident, said Nash’s friend and owner of the chimp Sandra Herold, and this video shows some of what happened the afternoon Nash lost much of her face and hands.
Nash moved to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in June 2010, according to a report from CNN. She was only the third patient to receive a full facial transplant at the hospital. While the facial surgery was a success, replacing her hands proved harder. A few days after doctors gave Nash new hands, the patient became very sick and had to have them removed again.
“I was given the chance to restore most of what I lost by coming to Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” she said. “Here, I received a new face … that will allow me to be independent again and able to be a part of society.”
She called the unsuccessful hand surgery a bump in the road, and said she’s optimistic about the future.
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BubbaT
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 8:58pmThat is unfrigginbelievable those doctors should be lauded as heros and given a ticker tape parade how remarkable. This poor women will now be able to lead a normal life talk about blessed beyond belief. Bravo!
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 1:57pmAll those experiments on Nancy may have paid off…
Report Post »kyheadhunter
Posted on August 13, 2011 at 9:12amUnbelievable… God bless her.
Report Post »freedomisasfreedomdoes
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 7:40pmshe looks amazing:)
Report Post »ZABO
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 4:42pmmay god bless this lady. wow were do you even start.
Report Post »blossom999
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 4:18pmWhen I think of her courage, enduring hell on earth 24/7 for so long, I feel two things. One, that God exists and gives strength to us when there is no other worldly reason to have it, and Two, that my life is blessed by comparison – for today – and my challenge is to make my time on earth count. So, I gotta quit blogging!
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:45pmOh…God bless her. I’m so glad the doctors were able to do a facial transplant. I wonder if they will be able to do eye transplants so she’ll be able to see again. What an awful thing to happen.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 1:54pmI don’t think they have yet leaned how to re-connect optic nerves, or ANY nerves, for that matter. Hopefully, the day will come.
Report Post »bew0576
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 10:58amI’m amazed at the knowledge that God has given these doctors to be able to transplant a face.
Report Post »God is so good!
CulperGang
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 10:32amALL “exotic” animals should be left in their natural homes, not in artificial ones of demented humans.
Report Post »When humans mess with “nature” natural order, the end result is disasterous.
cassandra
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 3:53pmI agree there are animals that just belong in the wild like parrots, people buy them then cut their wings so they can’t fly.then wonder why they have all these problem birds can you imagin having the gift of flight then have some jerk cut Your wings so you can’t fly owning these birds should be outlawed
Report Post »marshwillow
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 10:11amGod Bless this lady and why would anyone want a chimp as a pet.They are noble animals and should be in the setting God placed them in…..in the jungles.Beautiful they are,they are still wild beasts and man should be in the cage.Accidents like this will happen as long as we interfere with nature.
Report Post »Carol Ingian
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 9:20amI feel so bad for Ms. Nash. Her face is an improvement, but her life is destroyed.
Report Post »I Stand With Israel
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 7:30pmIf you base your life on how you look, this would ruin it, but maybe she has learned that what you look like is nothing compared to the other things in your life. God will bring peace to your soul, and that is something no amount of beauty can give you.
Report Post »sodacrackers2
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 9:16amShe is a very strong woman with a wonderful, sweet daughter. She can smell, talk, eat, and even smile so far. God bless all who care for her in her recovery.
Report Post »jwcoopusa
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 5:44amSo, what happened to the ape? Destroyed violently, I hope…………….
Report Post »loriann12
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 7:09amThey said in the article he was shot to stop the attack and later died of his wounds.
Report Post »mils
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 9:44amit was an animal…doing what animals do sometimes. it was instinct not reasoning on the chimps part. the lady that “owned” him…should have been shot instead. unsafe to keep a living creature like that
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 4:03amWow! I‘m thankful that something like that didn’t happen to me. It’s great that there are brilliant Doctors who were able to restore her face. She looks “normal”. It‘s too bad that they couldn’t restore her hands.
Report Post »Lib Whisperer
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 1:23amThere must be centralized “buss-lines” of nerves so the docs can hook up most of them. I wonder can she taste, smell… and I wonder if they got some wires crossed (say if she tries to speak, but blinks) how hard that would be to fix. Pretty hard I bet. Plus all the blood vessels, and underlying musculature re-attached. Wow. Remarkable they can do that. It must be awfully sad for the donor’s family. Not creepy I wouldn’t think. Just bittersweet mostly bitter. How they hell did the ape tear off her HANDS? I can see the face, maybe fishook the mouth and start tearing in a rage. But hands? That would seem to require a push-pull maneuver which seems to me a bit technical for an animal brain. (shudder). What appalling bad luck. I mean of ALL the things one could possibly imagine happening to you. I wish her well.
Report Post »Starkadder
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 1:44amit bit them off and ate them
Report Post »AlwaysLearning
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 2:44amWhen chimps attack other chimps, they disable them as fast as possible. They go for the eyes, the hands and the genitalia. He acted like…a chimp.
Report Post »Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 1:58pmAs many horror stories I have seen and heard about chimps attacking their owners or other humans, I would never have one for a pet, or be around an uncaged one.
Report Post »Speakin'mymind
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:58amShees…I can’t even imagine (and don’t want to) what she has gone through. Bless her, bless her, bless her.
Report Post »Free2speakRN
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 3:31amAmen, Amen, Amen
Report Post »Chr1st14n
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 12:42am…thats not even funny its borderline despicable
Report Post »Marci
Posted on August 12, 2011 at 2:13amAgreed CHR1ST14N–no ridiculous comments should be made here. This poor woman has gone through hell. I wish her only the best, and I cannot believe that first picture. That animal did tear her face off literally. Unbelievable. People do not understand that other than domesticated dogs and cats, these animals often revert to instincts only. They attack.
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