Oprah Winfrey provided the world the opportunity to see the horrific result of Charla Nash’s violent attack by a close friends chimpanzee. As a result of the attack, a lawsuit was filed by the victim’s family against the owner and the state of Connecticut. And now, Charla Nash was ready to show us the reality of her ordeal.
Oprah had the show subtitled, due to the fact that Charla has a reconstructed tongue and can only speak softly. In addition, she lost her hands, eyelids, and a portion of the bone structure in her face. Nash stated during the show that she had no memory of the attack, and doesn’t want to remember.
The program began on Tuesday with Nash’s face covered, but after Oprah asked, Nash allowed her veil to be removed. Despite being unrecognizable, and continuing to have a long and painful recovery, Nash expressed her eagerness to leave this behind and focus on healing and being well.
Oprah was a gracious hostess and thanked her guest for being courageous and also held Nash’s thumb, the only digit that was saved after the attack.
The Oprah Winfrey show had a very special episode on November 11 featuring Charla Nash. Charla was badly disfigured by a friend’s chimpanzee.
On the show, Charla revealed the extent of her injuries. She usually wears a veil to cover her face so she doesn’t startle anyone. She lost her nose, her eyelids, her lips, and the bony structures in the middle of her face. Fortunately doctors were able to reattach one of her thumbs, and Oprah shook it at the end of the episode.
Nash’s family have filed a lawsuit against Sandra Herold, the owner of the chimp. The attack occurred on Feb. 16 outside of Herold’s home while Charla was trying to help Herold move the chimp back into the house.
Charla stated on the episode that if anyone was shocked at her appearance, she would just tell them that she’s still the same person she’s always been and that unfortunately tragedies sometimes occur in life and there’s no way to change them.
On Wednesday Charla Nash finally revealed her destroyed face on Oprah. This was the first time she showed her injuries to the public.
56 year old Charla Nash, from Connecticut, had been the victim of a chimpanzee attack on February 16th 2009. The chimpanzee had battered her face
so that she has no nose, lips, hands, or eyelids. Her eyes had to be removed because they were infected.
The chimpanzee belonged to her friend, Sandra Herold. The attack occured when Nash was trying to help Herold get the chimpanzee back in the house.
Nash took off her veil and showed the world the remains of her face. She stated that because she does not want to know the full extent of her injuries, she tries not to ever touch her face.
Nash lives in a hospital at the moment, and her family is suing Sandra Herold for fifty million dollars.
Charla Nash Opens up Oprah About Chimp Attack
In a first interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired November 11th, Charla Nash opened up about the Chimpanzee attack that nearly took her life has left her face almost completely distorted. In the interview, Charla speaks about how the attack happened, but also demonstrated her positive attitude and her resolve to live. She is quoted as saying “Sometimes things just happen in life”. In addition, Charla went on to say that she is no longer angry and just wants to work on getting better and stronger.
In the most shocking part of the interview, Nash removed the black veil which she has been seen wearing until this time. The removal allowed the audience and the world to see her injuries for the first time. Charla has been left with no eyesight and doctors had to build a nose from grafted leg skin. Shocking does not completely describe Nash’s face, which is almost unrecognizable as a human face. Eventually, she will receive a face transplant. However, she will never look the way she did prior to the accident. Nash went on to explain that she was never a vein person and only wants to get better and feel better. Nash’s family is suing the owner of the Chimpanzee for monetary damages.