Chimp Attack Settlement: Woman Disfigured In Attack Gets $4 Million
A chimp attack settlement has been reached for a woman who was horribly disfigured after a 2009 attack by a chimpanzee, with the woman getting $4 million from the estate of the now-dead owner.
Legal documents obtained by The Associated Press show the chimp attack settlement details, with victim Charla Nash’s brother filing suit on her behalf in 2009. The suit sought $50 million in damages from the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, who died in 2010.
The chimp attack left Nash blinded and her face torn apart in the attack outside Herold’s home in February 2009. Nash also lost both hands in the attack.
Attorney Brenden Leydon, who represented Herold’s estate, noted that the chimp attack settlement represented a fair compromise on all sides. Lawyers for Nash disagreed, saying it was “an insignificant amount” considering what Nash suffered in the ordeal. The 57-year-old Nash had to undergo a face transplant and now must live in a nursing home.
The chimp attack happened when Nash went to Herold’s home to help lure the 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, back inside. The chimp turned wild, attacking Nash and ripping off her nose, lips, eyelids, and hands before the animal was shot and killed by a police officer, CBS News noted.
Herold treated Travis as if he were a member of the family, feeding him steak and lobster and letting him eat with her at the table. The chimp appeared in television commercials and also made an appearance on The Maury Povich Show.
The chimp attack settlement is only expected to cover a small fraction of Nash’s medical costs. She is in need of constant care and 24-hour supervision in her nursing home, and still has more surgeries ahead for hand transplants, her lawyers said.
