Charla Nash, the woman who survived a brutal chimpanzee attack 16 years ago, is sharing how her life has changed since the life-altering incident.
In February 2009, Nash—now 71—was attacked by Travis, a chimpanzee owned by her friend Sandra Herold. The violent attack left her without a face, eyelids, lips, nose, and hands. In 2011, she received a groundbreaking face transplant funded by the U.S. military to help study potential applications for wounded veterans.
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While the face transplant was successful, the hand transplant failed due to rejection. Nash also lost her vision to a disease transmitted during the attack. Despite those challenges, she’s continued rehabilitation and has made steady progress.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes Australia, shared on YouTube June 11, Nash revealed that she’s slowly regaining feeling in her face and can now eat solid food again—something she had once only dreamed of after surviving on liquids for years. “I was only drinking everything through a straw, and my goal is to be able to eat again,” she shared.
Though the recovery hasn’t been easy, Nash remains hopeful and grateful. “It’s hard, but it’s better,” she said. “Life’s getting better, it is coming around slowly.”
The 2009 attack happened when Travis tried to escape by grabbing car keys. Herold, who died in 2010, gave the chimpanzee Xanax-laced iced tea in an attempt to calm him. When Nash arrived to help, Travis lashed out. Investigators later suggested the chimp may have mistaken her for an intruder because of her new hairstyle.
Today, Nash continues to push forward, holding onto the progress she’s made and finding hope in every step of her recovery.
