Chimp Victim Seeking Face, Hand Transplant

(AP)  The hospital known for doing the United States' first face transplant has told the family of a woman mauled by a chimpanzee a year ago said that it can't perform a face and hand transplant for her, a family attorney said Monday.

Charla Nash's family is looking into alternative facilities after the Cleveland Clinic said it could not do both transplants, attorney Bill Monaco told The Associated Press on Monday. He said the transplants have to be done simultaneously and come from the same donor.

The 200-pound chimpanzee went berserk in February after its owner asked Nash to help lure it back into her house. The animal ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids.

Telephone messages left Monday with the hospital were not immediately returned.

The clinic does not believe it has the capability to do the hand transplant surgery, Monaco said. He said it has not ruled out the possibility of some type of collaboration with another hospital.

Nash's family is researching the possibilities of the transplants at a few other hospitals in the United States and one in Canada, Monaco said.

"It will significantly improve her quality of life," Monaco said.

A face transplant would help Nash smell, breath and eat, while a hand transplant would help her be more independent, Monaco said. Nash has great difficulty eating and mostly uses a straw, he said.

Even if Nash was declared a candidate for the transplants, the surgery would not be done for years, Monaco said.

Prosecutors said in December they would not charge the owner, Sandra Herold, because there was no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed.

Nash, who revealed her heavily disfigured face in November on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," has been at the Cleveland Clinic since soon after the attack. She expects to be discharged soon to an undetermined facility for rehabilitation, Monaco said.

Nash's family is suing Herold for $50 million and wants to sue the state for $150 million. Nash's family has said Herold was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."

Herold's attorney has called the attack work-related — Nash worked for Herold and the animal played a promotional role in Herold's tow-truck business — and said her family's case should be treated like a workers' compensation claim. The strategy, if successful, would limit potential damages and insulate Herold from personal liability.

Test results showed that Travis had the anti-anxiety drug Xanax in his system.

The chimp, which was shot and killed by police, had also escaped in 2003 from his owner's car and led police on a chase for hours in downtown Stamford. No one was injured.

[barbaram99]

People never get the message that wild animails are NOT pets no matter how cute they be when little...They grow up...They can be mean ..Dogs and cats are the proper pets for the home..People never get it even afther seeing that lady's pitiful face what wild animail can do..They think it can't happen to them..Wake up dear..It does..Did that chimp owner have children..That nasty beast would have killt a child and yet they never think..When a wild animal attacks a human the only humame thing to do kill it as it will attack again..if not..

[JV1970]

This is why apes and monkeys don't make good pets! I don't know when people are going to realize that! My cousin owned a little spider monkey once. The thing was bad tempered and nasty! I hated it! It used to throw it's own feces! It also bit me on the finger once. My cousin finally had to get rid of it because it went into a rage and attacked her. It ripped her leg up and put her in the hospital for over a week! Her husband shot it while she was in the hospital. He told her that he donated it to an area zoo because he knew that she couldn't stand for it to be killed.

[Union76]

Whats wrong with people these days? Sometimes i think the whole world is going mad. Why would anyone have a wild animal, or reptile for a pet? I'll just stick with my dogs and cats.

[rwsmith29456]

I find it bizarre that owner was not charged with ANYTHING. The popular belief that chimps are tame is blown out of the water. They are capable of inflicting MASSIVE injuries on a person. I'm stupified by the strength demonstrated here.

[mimi5952]

My prayers are with Charla and her family. It is a miracle that she is alive and I hope and pray the doctors can repair some of the damage to her face.

[barbaram99]

I read the article and know that they would have to come from the same donor..How long can she live in that state..I am a handicapped person from birth..I realise they would have to get the staff at one place to do what is needed..Are there laws that don't allow them to keep wild animal in the home..A chimp that heavy and big had to be too much for its caregivers..I am a native Mainer in Seattle and that lady would have been told not here yer don't. The problem with people is they want animals that clearly are not pets. Here cats and dogs are household pets..I have seen on TV where chimps have turnt on the one caring for it..My friend said they can be mean..That woman is a vitim of an wild animal turning on her tho a person asked her to help..The cops were right to have done what they did to stop it. People never get the message..I have been biten by a family dog years ago. That beast belonged in the wild or a zoo. Not in the home..I do hope that lady can get the help she trully needs..Is see able to see..I am leagally blind..Maybe they can fix it so wils animals are not kelp in the home in all state just look at that lady's face and that is the reason they should be banned.

[barbaram99]

Are there laws in place where they can't own a wild animal..Can't they rebuild her face and hands for the heslth reasons stated in the article..Some animals should not be kept as pets..That is what zoos are for.

[ReginaFilangee]

BarbaraM99, the reason they can't do it has nothing to do with her health. It's because there is only ONE hospital that has ever done a face transplant, and they don't have the capability there to do the hands. Since the hands and face MUST be done at the same time (from the same donor), don't you see the reason why they can't plan it yet? Doing the face at one hospital and the hands at another won't work, since that would require separate donors....which wouldn't work, either. They have to wait until they can coordinate it to be done, as explained in the article.

[hockeymom441]

Chimps belong in the zoo or in the wild. End of story.

Chimps ARE hostile animals... to say "no one knew", means they skipped and/or neglected that part of their 1st grade education.

Both the chimp and this poor woman are victims of Herold's insanity and delusion that a chimp was her child/partner.

[ReginaFilangee]

Not only does the Xanax in his system indicate that the owner KNEW about his violent tendencies (and therefore negligently endangered her friend/employee by calling for her assistance), but where is the prescription for the Xanax? If she gave it to her chimp without it being prescribed specifically for him by a licensed Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (not an MD), then she knowingly violated federal law in doing so. I happen to know that Xanax is not approved by the FDA for use in nonhuman primates.

Also, I seem to remember from a previous story on this very news site that she had been either verbally or officially cited for keeping an exotic animal as a pet without a permit from the proper authorities. She was not qualified by either education or training to keep such an animal. In doing so, she willfully jeopardized the safety of the entire public.

I hope that Travis' owner is prosecuted, and that she loses everything she holds dear in her life. Even that would not compensate for what the victim has had to endure, and will continue to endure for the rest of her life. I saw her on Oprah, and was awed and humbled by her emotional strength. Even though she seems to be "handling" her predicament amazingly well, no one should ever have that forced upon them by the sheer stupidity and willful negligence displayed by Travis' owner.

[mjlewis6]

Perhaps if the Chimp had been a Pit Bull there would have been some kind of liability? I am struck by the sheer preposterousness of finding NO KNOWLEDGE on the part of the owner since the use of Zanax clearly shows a concern to reduce the hostility of the chimp.