Personal Injury Law

$50 Million Lawsuit Filed In Chimp Attack

By Jane Akre

                                         Charla Nash

A 55-year old Connecticut woman remains hospitalized with her faced ripped off after a chimpanzee attack last February.  

Now her lawyer has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the pet owner.

The lawsuit was filed Monday in Stamford Superior Court by Charles Willinger of Bridgeport's Willinger, Willinger and Bucci.

It seeks damages from Sandra Herold, 70, who owned the chimp, Travis for his entire life - 14 years.  The suit asks for an accounting of her assets and prevents Herold from liquidating any of them.  

Charla Nash is still recovering from the February 16 attack.  She remains hospitalized at the Cleveland Clinic in critical condition.

Stamford resident Herold, had called her friend Nash over to help contain Travis who would not come back inside her home.  That's when Travis, a former TV star who appeared in commercials for Old Navy, attacked Nash causing traumatic brain injury.

She may lose her vision and the loss of most of her face - her nose, lips, eyelids and both hands, according  to the Cleveland Clinic. 

A local television station has the 9-1-1- tape with Herold screaming at police, as the chimp is heard in the background.  Police arrived 4 to 5 minutes later and shot and killed the 200-pound primate.

The Department of Environmental Protection had allowed the Herolds to keep Travis in their home even though there is a limit on keeping primates over 50 pounds. 

20 states and the District of Columbia do not allow primates to be kept as pets. The state could bear some liability in a lawsuit as well. 

Travis lived as Herold's son. He knew how to take a car and drive, take a bath, brush his teeth and drink wine from a stemmed glass. He ate steak and lobster.

Herold lived alone after her husband died five years ago and her daughter was killed in a car accident.

In 2003, the chimp escaped from his owners' vehicle in downtown Stamford. He was loose for two hours but police lured him with cookies and macadamia nuts.

The Today Show talked to Sandra Herold, who said during the attack she had to stab Travis with a knife.  "I hollered at him and I went to get the shovel and I got a knife, I had to, he looked at me like Mom, what did I do?"

"He was just too strong and I ran and got the phone and called 9-1-1. He ripped her face off."

Herold says her friend was wearing her hair differently and the chimp may not have recognized her. 

But that day Travis was acting rambunctiously so Herold gave him Xanax in his tea, a drug prescribed for anxiety.  Five minutes later, he attacked Nash.

Fox News, "The O'Reilly Factor talked to the brother of Nash in a March 10^th interview.  He said doctors are worried about infection and pneumonia and that his sister is heavily sedated, so the extent of any brain injuries is unknown.   

The family has a website http://nashtrust.com/, to report on her progress and to take in donations.

Last December, the Cleveland Clinic successfully completed a facial reconstructive surgery on a woman who had almost her entire face transplanted with skin and muscles harvested from a cadaver.

It was the most extensive reconstructive surgery every completed on a face in the U.S. #  

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on March 17, 2009 (boomark / email).