Neither Sandra Herold nor her friend Charla Nash had any idea about the kind of tragedy that was awaiting them on February 16, 2009. Charla had gone to visit Sandra on that day,, like she did on multiple previous occasions and she was also supposed to help Sandra to put her pet chimp, Travis back into his pen.
Charla was quite familiar with Travis and the two shared a good relationship. However, on that fateful day, Travel turned into a ruthless monster from a well-trained chimp and the kind of violence he unleashed on Charla not only left her scarred for life but also prompted Sandra to call 911 and ask authorities to come and kill Travis.
As reported by the Irish Star, Sandra said on her 911 call, “He ripped her apart! Hurry up! Hurry up! Please! He-he ripped her face off! He’s eating her face!” The Daily Star further reported, “Gun! They got to shoot him! Please! Please! Hurry! Hurry! Please! I can’t. I can’t … He’s eating her! He’s eating her! Please! God! Please! Where are they? Where are they?”
This was highly unusual behavior on Travis’ part who was not only a local celebrity of sorts but also was highly trained. He could open doors, and eat his food like humans. Sandra considered him her son, a view that did not change even after Travis attacked her friend and had to be killed.
Police arrived at Sandra’s residence following her call and after surviving four bullets, Travis made it to his own bed in the house and breathed his last there. Sandra mentioned that Travis was showing agitated behavior and she had given him Xanax and the reason behind him attacking Charla was probably her changed hairstyle, which Travis was not familiar with.
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Charla turned out to be a real survivor as given the kind of damage that Travis did to her, it seemed almost impossible for her to survive. However, she did survive and was eventually given a facial transplant.
Travis’ attack on Charla was brutal. As reported by the Irish Star, Travis “savagely attacked, scalping her and removing and consuming her eyes. He bit off one hand completely and almost severed an arm. Her jaw was entirely dislodged from her skull, leaving her with serious brain injuries.”
It should be noted here that Travis had been with Sandra since he was only three days old as the woman had spent $50,000 to a breeder and had to tranquilize his mother to bring the chimpanzee home. From the time Sandra brought him home, Travis lived a life far away from what is normal for a chimpanzee. After the harrowing incident, theories hinting at Travis finally snapping because of the strange life he lived, did rounds.
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While Travis had to be killed, his victim Charla Nash not only survived the attack but also made an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show to share her harrowing experience. When Sandra was asked her opinion on having chimps as pets following this tragedy by NBC journalist Jeff Rossen, she said, “Would I have done it again? Yes! They’re the closest thing to humans – to us. We can give them a blood transfusion, and they can give us one. How many people go crazy and kill other people? This is one incident that I don’t know what happened.”
She further added, “It was a horrible thing. But I’m not a horrible person. And he wasn’t a horrible chimp. It was a freak thing.” Her words showed how much Travis meant to her and despite what he did to her best friend, her stance did not change.
