Charla Nash Brothers: Victim Of Chimp Attack Feared Animal

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN

Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press

courant.com
June 29, 2009

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut woman mauled and blinded by a chimpanzee in February had feared the animal might hurt someone and described him as mean and so strong that she had to repair his cage several times, her brothers said.

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Michael and Stephen Nash's comments to The Associated Press provides the first public look at Charla Nash's dealings with Travis, a 200-pound chimpanzee that went berserk when his owner asked Nash to help lure him back into his house...

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Herold's attorney, Robert Golger, has said there was no way to predict Travis would attack Nash. He questioned why Nash would voluntarily go to Herold's house if she was afraid of the chimpanzee. Travis was normally in his cage when Nash visited, Stephen Nash said. "She got lulled into a false sense of security because he hadn't bothered her."

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...A state biologist warned officials last October that Travis could seriously hurt someone if he felt threatened and said that officials had not determined if his enclosure was strong enough. The state Department of Environmental Protection is in charge of monitoring exotic animals in Connecticut. Nash's family has declined to say if they will file a lawsuit against the state or others.

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Nash's family said she's continuing to make progress at the Cleveland Clinic... Nash remembers getting out of her car that day to help her friend lure the animal back in the house, her brothers say. She does not recall the attack, but her brother sees hints of the trauma in a recurring dream and a panic attack she had in the hospital.

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"They kept dragging me in the car and wouldn't let me sleep," Nash said, according to her brother Michael. "It was a dirty car." Michael Nash said he thinks his sister's dream is her recollection of the ambulance and efforts to save her life. During the panic attack, Nash screamed for her brother. "Help me. They're hurting me. They were hurting me," she said.

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Michael Nash said his sister became agitated after a hospital aide tried to help her to the bathroom. "I think grabbing just created a reaction, an instinctual fear of being attacked," he said. Nash continues to make progress, her brothers said. One day she was saying the Hail Mary."It amazes me," Michael Nash said. "Her mental abilities have really come back."

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Not long ago she was in denial about what happened, insisting Travis attacked someone else. But then she acknowledged Travis hurt her, Michael Nash said."I knew it when I got out of the car something was wrong," she said, according to her brother...

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