Checking on Charla

Time to check in on Charla Nash, who has undergone numerous surgeries since the pet chimpanzee of a friend attacked her in February 2009, leaving her without her nose, an eyelid, her lips, and both hands. Doctors took out her eyes when they became infected. She received a double-hand transplant, but they had to be removed when she contracted pneumonia, which affected her circulation. Surgeons have had more luck with her face, though it's required numerous operations. Nash, now 58, can speak, smell, and she can eat (a good thing, because doctors want her to gain weight). She is in physical rehabilitation (video here) and has someone with her when she walks. She will require long-term care and will take medication for the rest of her life. She is building up her strength to sustain the weight of new hands, but also to express her emotions. "Every day my muscles get better. I can smile,"she says. The June 2011 photograph above shows her exercising, and the series below documents her progress from the initial injuries to the remarkable improvements leading up to and following her 4th face transplant last year.

FEBRUARY 2009

MARCH 2010

AUGUST 2011

NOVEMBER 2011

FEBRUARY 2012

MARCH 2012

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Previous posts about animal attacks:

Bear bites butt

Suicide by animal

Leopard lynching

Zookeeper deaths

Killer squid

Harar hyenas

Of two minds about wolves

Fatal coyote attack

Jaws in 1916

Fatal tiger maulings