How is Charla Nash’s life after the wild attack of the chimpanzee which tore off her face and hands

Among the most important assets of a person, psychologists talk about the resilience. This feature, depending on the look of the specialist Edith Henderson Grotberg, is the “capacity of the human being to face the adversities of the life, to overcome them and even to be transformed by them”. This definition fits perfectly into the history of Charla nash. The woman, in 2009, suffered a brutal attack from a chimpanzee from her employer, who was also her friend, Sandra herold: the animal tore off its face and hands. Blind and finished they had to do a transplant path.

// How the maddening 911 call went for Charla Nash, the woman whose face and hands were torn off by a chimpanzee

Nash’s last known interview is the one he gave to the channel in 2017 WFSB. In the report, the woman assured that she always wanted to “move on” after what he suffered. He never gave up. “There is nothing you can do if you look back. You need to go forward“He assured at the time.

Before the tragedy, Nash worked for the tractor company that the owner of Travis, the monkey who disfigured her. But his real passion is horses. “I was a professional cowgirl. It was my lifeHe commented. The woman was in North Haven, trying to get back on one of her favorite animals.

He always had this positive attitude. So much so that in many reports he gave, it was highlighted. In 2016, during an interview with the talk show Today, Express: “I just want to get on with my life and get better.”

This determination led her to undergo a military experience that was offered to her by specialist doctors from the Pentagon. Contact with Nash dates back to 2011, when the US military funded face transplant to which it was subjected. In 2015, the woman underwent treatment, carried out by doctors at Brigham Hospital, in which they tried take the drugs he had been taking since major surgery.

“They asked me and I said I would be happy to help as much as possible,” she commented to the agency at the time. AP. The study did not work, but true to its positive sense of what surrounds it, Nash felt it did the same. “It wasn’t a failure. They learned a lot from all my testing and contributions. This will help in the future, ”he added.

During the conversation she had in 2017, Nash gave up on an idea of ​​her habit: she lives with two women who help her because she couldn’t manage on her own. It made her better. “They are very good cooks, so I eat well. I also learned to use a microwave, ”he said. According to what the newspaper reported The mirror, Nash spends his days in a retirement house.

Travis’ attack on Charla Nash

It was crazy 12 minutes who forever changed the life of Discuss. During the 911 call where her friend Sandra herold asked for help to save his life he was saved the impact of this attack. Between the sounds of blows, torn cries and scandalous cries, they are heard in the background Travis is screaming, the chimpanzee who tore off the woman’s face and hands. So they were immortalized.

“Please send the police!” Send the police, with a gun, with a gun! He’s killing my friend! He tears it up. He tore off his face, hurry up! Listen to me! They have to shoot him, please, ”Herold asked, shouting during the conversation with the Stamford 911 operator, who received the infuriating communication.

The attack took place on February 16, 2009, when Nash He approached Herold’s house to help him, as he couldn’t get the monkey in. He couldn’t contain the violence of the monkey, who threw himself on her, started to bite her and tore off her hands, nose, eyes, lips and eyelids.

The reasons that triggered Travis’ out of control attitude have never been clear. The forensic analysis performed on the animal determined that had traces of alprazolam, a medicine his owner had given him to calm him down. A few minutes before the tragedy, the chimpanzee was very upset And so Herold confirmed to investigators that he gave him the drugs in the food.

In order to stop the brutality of the chimpanzee, one of the agents had to shoot him. When officers arrived, following the 911 call, Travis walked over to the cruiser, opened the door and knocked on it. Frank Chiafari, one of the policemen, recalled in The New York Times What shot him four times.

The complete transcript of the 911 call

-Hello, it’s 911, what’s your emergency?

– (He says the address of the house and it is not understood) Please send the police!

-What is the problem there?

-The chimpanzee killed my friend.

-What’s wrong with your friend?

-Please!

-What’s wrong with your friend, that’s what I need to know.

-Send the police, with a gun, with a gun! Hurry up!

-Who has the gun?

-Please hurry, he’s killing my friend!

-What is the problem?

-He is killing my friend.

-Who is killing your friend?

-The chimpanzee!

-Oh, your chimpanzee is killing your friend.

-Yes. He’s tearing it up, hurry up!

– Someone is going. Tell me what the monkey is doing.

-He tore off his face and tried to attack me.

-I need you to calm down a bit, they are already going. To protect.

-Please hurry up! Listen to me! You have to shoot him, please.

-Are you there with your friend? Can you help your friend?

-I can’t because he’s going to attack me.

“Is the chimpanzee still with your friend?”

-Yes.

-Next, stay back and stay clear. They are on their way there. If the monkey moves from where he is, let me know so I can help his friend.

-She is dead. She is dead.

-Why do you say she’s dead?

-Because he tore it up. It took everything away from him (cries). I think I’ll pass out.

-Just breathe until someone is there.

-Please hurry up. My God! They must bring weapons. They must bring weapons.

-Is this your monkey?

-Yes it’s mine.

-Do you know how much it weighs?

-Two hundred pounds (a little over 90 kilos) Where are they?

-He’s a chimpanzee, right?

-Yes. Where are they?

-They go as fast as they can.

-Is the monkey with his friend yet?

-Come quickly.

-I need you to calm down, please. I know it’s difficult, but they go as fast as they can.

-You have to shoot him, please. Tell him to do it because he will try to attack me.

– Take a deep breath, Sandra. I need you to stay in the car.

-That they shoot him! I tried to stab him, that’s why I have to get shot. I can’t get out of the car!

-He’s already been shot, Sandra.

-But he’s not dead.

-They will continue until I die, but I need you to stay with me on the phone.

What happened after the attack

The life of Nash and Herold they took different paths. While Travis’ victim had been recovering for a long time, even after the complex surgeries he faced, the monkey’s owner had a terminal effect on his health: a year after the attack, he suffered a stroke. and died. 72 years old.

A few months ago, an artist uploaded a work he made from to the reconstructed face of Nash. “Study on Nash Talk” is the name of Ben Fenton’s painting, which he shared on his Instagram account in November 2020. “I fell a little in love with the courage and resilience of this woman. There is a serenity and a beauty that is real and completely belies the pain and anguish she has experienced. I can relate to that, ”he writes, next to the photo of his painting.

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The impression of the artist is not at all false, given the gaze of the protagonist of the story. The positive go ahead: “I just want you to know that I only have good wishes from people. I hear stories and tragedies that they are worse than mine ”.