Monday, February 23, 2009

Family Will Seek Guardianship

The family of a woman who was mauled by a 200-pound chimpanzee says her twin brother plans to go to court to seek guardianship of the victim and her daughter.

Steve Nash: "That's the way my sister would want it." Charla Nash remains under sedation at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, where she is being evaluated by teams of physicians.

Charla Nash's twin, Michael, needs the legal designation to make decisions on behalf of Charla and her 17-year-old daughter, Briana, who is staying with family friends in Connecticut.

Charla Nash was transferred from Stamford Hospital in Connecticut to Ohio with massive injuries to her face and hands from the Feb. 16 attack by Travis, a chimpanzee owned by her friend, 70-year-old Sandra Herold of Stamford.

Herold, who owned the 14-year-old chimp for nearly all his life, has said she fed Travis the finest foods, including steak, lobster, cheesecake and wine. Travis combed her hair and they slept in the same bed.

Herold asked Charla Nash to come to her home the day of the attack to help lure Travis back into her house. Herold has speculated that the chimp was trying to protect her and attacked Nash because she had changed her hairstyle, was driving a different car and was holding a stuffed toy in front of her face to get Travis' attention.

When Travis attacked, Herold stabbed him with a butcher knife and struck him with a shovel in unsuccessful attempts to move him away. Police, who shot and killed the chimp, said it appeared Nash's face was ripped away in the 12-minute attack. Four teams of surgeons operated on Nash for more than seven hours to stabilize her before she was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic.

Full Article and Source:
Family to seek guardianship of chimp attack victim

More information:
Chimp attack victim weak, brother says

Twin Of Chimp's Victim Seeks Guardianship

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Shoot. This is the wrong thing for the family to do. They are probably being guided (into the lion's den) by an attorney.

They think they're doing the right thing, but they're being guided in the wrong direction.