Doctors revealed Thursday the full horror a Connecticut woman suffered at the hands of a crazed chimpanzee and said she may never recover from her gruesome injuries.
Charla Nash, 55, lost her nose, lips, eyelids and hands when the 200-pound primate ripped her apart last month, her doctors said.
She also suffered brain damage, possible blindness and several broken bones in her face from the brutal mauling, which shocked even hardened medical pros.
Nash remains in critical condition. Doctors are unsure when – if ever – they can begin to rebuild her ravaged body.
“The full extent of these injuries and her potential for recovery, if any, remain unclear at this time,” Cleveland Clinic officials said in a statement. “Any consideration of reconstructive options is premature.”
The grim recounting of Nash’s condition marked the first time her injuries have been described in detail by the hospital.
Hospital officials say a team of specialists, including neurosurgeons and ophthalmologists, are especially concerned about the damage to Nash’s brain and eyes.
“Critical issues still remain related to a significant traumatic brain injury and injuries to her eyes that threaten her vision,” hospital officials said.
Nash remains sedated in the hospital, which performed the nation’s first facial transplant in December.
Nash was attacked by Travis the chimp Feb. 16 moments after she arrived outside her pal’s Stamford home to help coax the rampaging ape inside.
Cops shot the 14-year-old chimp dead, but not before he had torn into Nash for several minutes.
Police are still considering whether to level criminal charges against the chimp’s owner, Sandy Herold, who bathed with the ape and slept in the same bed with the animal for years.
Herold has said Travis attacked because he was being protective of her and didn’t recognize Nash, who had recently changed her hairstyle, was driving a different car and waved a red Elmo doll at him.
Police say that minutes before the attack, Herold had given Travis tea laced with Xanax.
The Daily News revealed that Travis suffered the same fate as his mother, Suzy, who was gunned down in 2001 after escaping from a Missouri sanctuary and wreaking havoc nearby.
