Travis and Nash

Today in class I went into the case of Charla Nash, the woman who was attacked by a bloodthirsty chimpanzee. This being another well known case was really good since there was a lot of information on it. A summary of the incident follows:

On February 16, 2009 Travis attacked Sandra Herolds 55 year old friend Charla Nash inflicting injuries to her face and limbs. Travis at the time was taking medication for Lyme disease. Other information reported was even though Travis was familiar with Nash, who worked for Herold she had a different hairstyle that day. Travis immediately attacked her when he saw her. Herold then 70 years old attempted to stop the attack by hitting him with a shovel and stabbing him with a butcher knife. Herold called the police and the recorded police call you can hear her yelling the phrase, "he is eating her!" When the police arrived to the scene, Travis tried to open a locked passenger seat and when he couldn't he retreated back to his cage with already several existing wound shots, where he was found dead.

Within the first 72 hours, Nash underwent more than seven surgeries to her face by four teams of surgeons. The visible damage was that Nash had lost her eyes, lips, mid facial structure, ears and nose as well as significant brain tissue injuries. She was featured on the Oprah show in order to spread awareness as well as raise money for all of the medical bills that would follow. Travis the chimpanzee was taken into scientific study where it was confirmed he had received laced tea with Xanax, the anti depressant drug which can cause rage, hallucinations, mania and therefore probable cause of the attack.

Below are pictures of Nash before and after the attack: