I'll Never Feel Sorry For Myself Again

[Feralpeg]

After watching that poor, brave woman on Oprah today, I have no excuse to ever feel sorry for myself again. The woman who had her face and hands ripped off by a chimp was on Oprah today. For the first time, they revealed her face. They removed her eyes and built a mouth for her, but her face is totally disfigured. They grafted part of her leg to her face to cover the area where no skin was left. She has no fingers. She has thumbs on each hand that were reattached. She can only drink through a straw at this point.

This poor woman has a daughter who is a senior in high school. She is most sad that she will not be able to help pick out a gown for her daughter's prom. It totally broke my heart to hear her.

She hopes that someday, she will qualify for a face transplant. It may or may not be possible. When she first revealed herself, it was very shocking, but after a few minutes, it didn't bother me to look at her. I only hope that she can find some peace and be willing to let the world deal with her appearance. She currently lives at a nursing home. She has the right to liver her life no matter how she looks. Amazingly, she is not angry and holds no ill will toward the animal that was responsible. He was just doing what comes natural to a chimp. She is a very brave woman.

 

[MM27]

I just caught the end of it when I got home. It does put things into perspective. When we complain about little things and this woman is just hoping that one day she won't have to eat every meal from a straw or that she wants to be able to not be a burden on her family. Makes you think how trivial some things are in life when you see how much harder others have it.

 

[Tikitoi]

OT, but I hope the owner of that animal has to pay through her ***. Thoughts and prayers to this lady and her daughter.

 

[missypie]

OT, but I hope the owner of that animal has to pay through her ***. Thoughts and prayers to this lady and her daughter.

Since the chimp owner probably didn't have nearly enough insurance to support another person for the rest of her life, perhaps the owner should be her personal aide for the rest of her life. Even with a face, having no hands and no vision would be terrible to deal with.

 

[DWGal210]

I feel the same way, OP....sometimes when you think you have it bad, then you hear about people like this brave woman and what she is going through, and it puts it all in perspective.

I wish her the best.

 

[princess momma]

I had the tv on while I was doing stuff around the house. Then Oprah came on and I had to sit down and watch it.

Wow, it made me so sad to watch. She's such a brave woman. 18 months out from the attack and she's still living in a hospital. And her poor daughter.

I wish her and her family all the best.

 

[klj27]

They just filed a Huge lawsuit against the state (Connecticut?) because they said they should have taken the animal away. Not sure.

 

[minniebeth]

It does put things about life into perspective.
My heart goes out to the woman and her family...
We need to count our blessings while we can.

 

[LadyZolt]

They just filed a Huge lawsuit against the state (Connecticut?) because they said they should have taken the animal away. Not sure.

Yeah, I had to think about that one, too. First, the victim (Charla) knew the chimp and had been with him before. That day, and was called by the owner (Sandra) because the chimp was misbehaving. So Charla knew he wasn't really his usual self. I'm not sure if she knew the owner had given the chimp a pill that may have affected his behavior. So, the owner (Sandra) I think has a major responsibility here. Charla really had been with the chimp before and I don't think she truly realized what was going to happen. I think that Sandra, as the owner, should be giving every last cent she has and all of her time and attention to caring for Charla. After all, they were friends before this and I should think Sandra feels terrible about it.

That said, the state had over a dozen calls about this chimp acting dangerously toward others and a few instances when he escaped from Sandra and the police had to catch him. Chimps are very dangerous -- they are smart, too. So think about the intelligence level of a four or five year old child, but who can also rip your arms from their sockets. I think the state had a responsibility to say some animals are so dangerous, it is illegal to own them. We have enough problems with legal animals, like dogs, getting out and biting people, let alone exotic animals like chimps, gorillas, tigers or wolves. I understand currently some people are owning full-blood wolves. It is only a matter of time before one kills or seriously wounds a human. You can't really tame wild animals and the general populace should not be permitted to own one. Because Connecticut knew that this specific chimp was dangerous, I think the state had a responsibility to remove him and place him where he would not hurt anyone; a place where he would be cared for by people who are experts in chimpanzees. As it is now, the chimp had to be killed, and we can't really say he deserved it. He was an animal and was given drugs, was living in a place that wasn't natural for his species, etc. The whole thing is sad, but I for one would rather the state be sued and lose and then have all states step up and ensure no one is permitted to own exotic animals. It's not in the best interest of the animal, and it is certainly not right to endanger the neighborhood just because someone has some odd desire to own something out of the ordinary.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[a1tinkfans]

Very sad indeed.
But she seems to be a STRONG woman and Hopefully someday she will get her wish to get both a face transplant which will then allow them to get a hand transplant (apparently she is unable too now because she has no eyes, criteria needed!)
Will be saying prayers for her and her family.....
The owner of the animal is claiming it was "during work:" so that only a workers comp claim can be made versus a civil case $$$$....now bringing in the state as well.......so very tragic...........

 

[OceanAnnie]

I was just reading about it on Oprah's website. Such a tragedy.
Here is the story (and pictures) of the woman. She was beautiful. Horrible what happened to her. I think it should be illegal to own a dangerous animal such as an adult chimp.

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20091111-tows-charla-nash-chimp

 

[Stacerita]

A saw a clip and couldn't believe it. I am amazed at her strength and will. I shouldn't have anything to complain about.

 

[safetymom]

She is a woman of courage. I felt so bad for her. I was surprised that Oprah didn't offer to do something for her.

 

[LadyZolt]

She is a woman of courage. I felt so bad for her. I was surprised that Oprah didn't offer to do something for her.

I believe that Oprah probably did offer something, just not on camera. She probably wants to keep it low key and unpublicized, but I think Oprah is the kind of woman who would reach out here and do anything she could. She may have already been doing something to help since the attack happened. I know many of us have said a lot of prayers for Charla from the day it happened onward.

-Dorothy (LadyZolt)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Poor woman.

Wow!

 

[safetymom]

I could see that Oprah cared about the woman. I just kept thinking she was going to announce something. That is one person that truly deserves help for Oprah and others.

 

[Disney Doll]

Very sad indeed.
But she seems to be a STRONG woman and Hopefully someday she will get her wish to get both a face transplant which will then allow them to get a hand transplant (apparently she is unable too now because she has no eyes, criteria needed!)
Will be saying prayers for her and her family.....
The owner of the animal is claiming it was "during work:" so that only a workers comp claim can be made versus a civil case $$$$....now bringing in the state as well.......so very tragic...........

Why do you need eyes to get a hand transplant?

 

[JerseyJanice]

I just posted about this topic on another thread.

Ms. Nash is inspiring in her will to live and find some enjoyment out of what's left of her life. God bless her and help her in her struggles.

I can't say one way or the other whether the state of Connecticut should be blamed for this tragedy. I'll go on record as saying that until this story became news, I had no idea that chimps were so dangerous. I've been watching them on TV and movies all my life, and they always seemed so intelligent and gentle. Who knew they can turn into homicidal maniacs? I don't think the general public thought that way before this happened, so I'm not sure that the PTB in CT knew either.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Why do you need eyes to get a hand transplant?

On the radio today, they (or she?) said something like without any eyesight, transplanted hands wouldn't be of much use to her.

I imagine it takes a lot of work and physical therapy to get transplanted hands to become useful and maybe without eyesight, it would be nearly impossible.

 

[princess momma]

Why do you need eyes to get a hand transplant?

Well, I don't know exactly but the poor woman can't even walk on her own. They probably have pretty strict criteria for hand transplants in order to keep the success rate higher. I don't see how she could possibly do all the PT & OT involved in gaining any function in the hands, without sight.