Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman who was severely disfigured after she was attacked by her friend’s chimpanzee, has been discharged from the Cleveland Clinic and will move to a Boston-area assisted living center where she will continue to undergo therapy.
ABC News reports that Nash, 56, will undergo physical and occupational therapy to “learn skills that will hopefully allow her to be independent,” said Nash’s lawyer William Monaco. Nash was attacked in November 2009, when her friend and employer, Sandra Herold, asked for help getting her 200-pound ape, Travis, back into the room-sized cage she kept in her suburban house.
After the near-fatal attack, Nash underwent several reconstructive surgeries. ”Ms. Charla Nash has made great progress in her recovery. She is doing well and has been discharged from the Cleveland Clinic,” the hospital said in a statement. “Throughout her stay she has touched the lives of many of our employees; we wish Charla and her family all the best.”
Nash lost most of both hands, but had a thumb surgically replaced on her left hand. Doctors removed her eyes and grafted a piece of her leg where her nose used to be. She eats all her meals through a straw, since she only has a small slit where her mouth used to be.
The courageous Nash told Oprah back in November 2009 that she hopes at some point to get a face transplant and get a hand transplant at the same time.
