Charla Nash, Chimpanzee victim update

Hearings on Chimp Attack Case Postponed

originally posted April 14, 2009

Chimp victim's family wants photos sealed
By DEBRA ALFARONE and LEANNE GENDREAU

Two hearings involving the woman who was brutally attacked by a chimpanzee in February were postponed Monday and her family's lawyers are asking that photos of her remain sealed.

Attorneys for a Charla Nash are also asking a judge to keep her medical records from the public.
Nash, 55, lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids on Feb. 16 when Travis, a 200-pound celebrity chimp belonging to Sandra Herold, of Stamford, attacked.

Matt Newman, an attorney for the conservator of Charla Nash, said Nash's right to privacy overrides the public's right to see the photos. The photos and records will be evidence in Nash's $50 million lawsuit against chimp owner Sandra Herold.

"They're extremely graphic, naturally," Newman said of the photos. "There is an overriding privacy concern with regard to the family members of Ms. Nash and in particularly her daughter."

Herold's attorneys did not object to the request to seal the photos and records, and Stamford Superior Court Judge Edward R. Karazin Jr. scheduled an April 27 hearing to discuss the request.

Karazin did not make an immediate ruling on Newman's request to make permanent a restraining order that places an attachment on Herold's property and assets, keeping her from selling them. Herold's attorneys are opposing the request because they say there was no way to predict the chimp would attack Nash.

Nash’s family filed a $50 million lawsuit in March, claiming Herold was negligent and reckless when she asked Nash to come over and lure her pet chimp back into her home.

Nash's attorneys are seeking an account of Herold's assets. A judge has granted a temporary restraining order that prevents Herold from selling or mortgaging her assets, and has scheduled a hearing for Monday on the attorneys' request for detailed financial information from Herold.

Herold's attorney said the attack was an accident and that Herold should not be held liable.

Stamford police are still considering criminal charges.

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Nash is being treated at the Cleveland Clinic, the first site in the United States to perform a face transplant, where she is in critical, but stable condition. She was moved there from Stamford hospital three days after the attack.

Nash's twin brother, Michael, who was named conservator for his sister's estate, declined to comment after the hearing. Herold did not attend.

Charla Nash, Chimp Attack Victim Needs 2 Years of Surgery

originally posted April 8, 2009

For the next two years, Charla Nash will go through surgeries as she recovers from a vicious chimp attack in Stamford in February that left her disfigured, blind and near death.

Nash, 55, lost her hands, nose, lips and eyelids on Feb. 16 when she was attacked by Travis, a 200-pound celebrity chimp belonging to Nash’s friend, Sandra Herold, who treated him like a human.

Damage to her eyes has left her blind for life, doctors said.

In an interview with the "Today Show" Tuesday, Nash's brothers said she is not interested in learning what happened to send her to the hospital.

“The psychiatrist said she understands a lot about her injuries but she’s not interested, at this time, to find out how they occurred,” Stephen Nash, said. Nash is being treated at the Cleveland Clinic, the first site in the United States to perform a face transplant, where she is in critical, but stable condition. She was moved there from Stamford hospital three days after the attack.

Nash’s family members are talking to doctors about reconstructive surgery and doctors said initial surgery would be focused on her facial injuries.

Since being attacked, Nash has made significant neurological and psychological improvement and is awake and able to communicate with her family and caregivers, doctors said.

“Since day one, the brain scans and the MRIs have turned out very positive and very encouraging,” Stephen Nash said.

Nash is able to sit in a chair, listen to country music, and tell her nurses if she is cold, tired or wants to be left alone.

She moves her arms and head to help nurses when they change her bandages and may soon be moved out of an isolation room, according to her brothers.

About three weeks ago, Nash said the first word since her attack, “Lisa,” the name of her nurse at the Cleveland Clinic.

In March, Nash's family filed a lawsuit against Herold for $50 million. A hearing is scheduled for April 13. They have also set up a Web site, friendsofcharlienash.com with her story where people can send e-mails and make donations.

A Connecticut lawmaker said the taxpayers could be paying Nash. A memo from a state biologist warning about the chimp could prove the state was negligent, State Sen. Andrew McDonald, co-chairman of the legislative committee that handles legal claims against