Stamford chimp attack victim Charla Nash receives face transplant

• 
  2011 June 2011, Boston, MA, USA, LIGHTCHASER PHOTOGRAPHY, Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Plastic Surgery in coordination with the hospital's entire transplant team, and the New England Organ Bank, worked throughout an entire day to replace the soft facial tissues of Connecticut chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash. Expert hand surgery teams also worked with donor tissues on Charla Nash's right and left hands simultaniously with the face transplant team in the crowded operating room. The transplant team, led by Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, began their surgical procedures shorty after 10 p.m. and Charla Nash was transported to the tower ICU floor for recovery shortly before 7 p.m. the following day. ( lightchaser photography image by j. kiely jr. © 2011 ) Photo: Contributed / Connecticut Post Contributed

Other News

• 

  Save the loggerheads: Danbury students travel to Florida to study sea turtles

• 

  Danbury rest area will remain open, state rep says

• 

  Immaculate High graduates 79 students

STAMFORD -- Charla Nash, the victim of a vicious attack by a chimpanzee in Stamford in 2009, has received a full face transplant, according to Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, where she received the surgery.

The procedure was performed late last month, hospital officials said in a press release.

Nash, 58, is living in a rehabilitation center near Boston. She was severely mauled by a pet chimpanzee when trying to help her friend and employer, Sandy Herold, get the berserk animal back in her Stamford home in February 2009.

Nash lost her eyes, hands and facial features, in the attack by "Travis" the chimpanzee. The 200-pound animal was shot and killed by police after the attack.

Since the surgery, Nash has been coming out of anaesthetics and responds to questions with nods of her head. Her family said she is trying to communicate verbally.

In a family statement read at a news conference, Nash's brother Steve said, "Charla has fought hard, at first, for her life, and then to begin to recover both physically and emotionally. Our family is deeply indebted to the many individuals and the three hospitals who have gotten her to this wonderful day."

The family thanked the doctors who performed the surgery. "Because of them, we are confident Charla will reach her goal to regain her health and independence in the future. We are impressed every day by their incredible care and concern."

They also expressed their gratitude to the donor family.

"We mourn the loss of your loved one and share in your sadness. Your incredible gift to Charla is generous and kind beyond words. Thank you for your precious gift and God bless you," said a teary-eyed Steve Nash.

Charla Nash did not appear at a hospital news conference Friday, and no photographs of her after the surgery were released.

It took more than 20 hours for a team of 30 surgeons, anesthesiologists and residents to complete the procedure, according to the hospital. Doctors replaced Nash's nose, lips, facial skin, muscles of facial animation and the nerves that power them and provide sensation.

The exact date of the transplant has not been revealed to protect the family of the donor. Nash also received hand transplants, but the hands were later removed because of complications.

Several days after the operation, Nash developed pneumonia and suffered a drop in blood pressure, which compromised blood flow to the hands. Doctors eventually had to remove the transplanted hands.

Doctors said a hand transplant can be attempted again if a suitable donor is found.

[Source : the Associated Press]