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Charla Nash, the woman mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee, is unveiled on ‘Oprah Winfrey’

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Charla Nash, the Stamford, Conn., woman mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee on Feb. 16, appeared on ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ today.

During the interview, Nash willingly removed her veiled hat that normally covers her face to avoid scaring people, revealing her badly disfigured face to the public for the first time, according to the Hartford Courant.

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The family of Nash has filed a lawsuit against the chimp’s owner, Nash’s longtime friend and employer, Sandra Herold. Her injuries were described in the lawsuit as ‘catastrophic’; she lost both hands and incurred ‘traumatic facial injury [including loss of her nose, upper and lower lips, eyelids and the bony structures in her mid-face].’

The attack Feb. 16 occurred outside Herold’s Stamford home, when Herold called Nash to help her shepherd the chimpanzee, Travis, back into her house. Police shot and killed the chimpanzee after he attacked Nash.

Twitter users have been expressing their concern about the tragedy after watching the show, using the hashtag #Oprah:

annabrown86 says: This is why certain animals should not be domesticated. justbrianna says: Woman who was brutally attacked by a chimpanzee is on #Oprah today. God bless her. These animals aren’t pets, they’re not cuddly. They kill. _robertito_ says: I feel bad 4 that woman. Even if she gets $$ out of it, it will never b the same biglilkim says: I will not even play wit a stuffed monkey from now on afta seeing that lady face

Doctors from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio have been able to reattach one of her thumbs, which Winfrey politely shook at the end of the interview. When Oprah asked Nash what she would say to people who saw her and didn’t know how to react, Nash replied:

‘I’m the same person I’ve always been. I just look different. You know, and there’s things that happen in life that, you know, you can’t change it. You know, it’s a tragedy.’

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RELATED:
Family of chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash files suit against chimp’s owner
Primatologist Jane Goodall speaks out about chimpanzee attack
House votes to approve Captive Primate Safety Act after chimp attack

-- Kelsey Ramos

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