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Oprah Amazed At Spirit, Resilience Of Chimp Mauling Victim
By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 11, 2009
Modified Nov 11, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Nov 11, 2009
Modified Nov 11, 2009
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On today's Oprah, the talk show host's interview with the Connecticut chimp mauling victim will be aired. Oprah Winfrey spoke to Charla Nash, whose eyelids, nose, lips and hands were torn off by her friend and employer's 200-pound chimp, at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday; it was Nash's 56th birthday. Winfrey said of their exchange, "I will have to say I've never seen anything quite like what's happened to her, and also never felt a spirit like that that has such resolve to get better and such a sense of resilience. It really made me think that I'll never complain about another thing ever again."
Nash told Winfrey, "I don't ask a whole lot about my injuries. I know that I have my forehead." The Courant reports, "Nash says she no longer has eyes, eats everything through a straw and can't breathe through her nose. But she says she isn't in pain and often goes for walks. Nash also says it feels like 'patches of tape or gauze' are covering her face and she doesn't remember anything from the animal's attack." And she said of Travis the chimp, "I do remember going to feed him a couple of times. He was big and scary. He was huge," but made clear he was her friend/employer's pet not a part of the business, "It was her pet that she wanted for a companion... If she had to rush out or couldn't come home, I fed him."
ABC News has photos of Nash's face—they are apparently extremely graphic—here's a link to the ABC News story, where there's another link to see the actual photos. Winfrey also told Cleveland TV station WEWS-TV, "You know, she's sitting there, this is her birthday, this is her 56th birthday today, and she's worried about whether her daughter is going to choose the appropriate prom dress and worried that she won't be there for that. I have to tell you it's one of those stories about the resilience of the human spirit that makes us all take a different look at our own lives."
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charla nash
chimp mauling
chimp mauling victim
Oprah Winfrey
travis the chimp
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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