Woman Mauled by Chimp to Get Face, Hand Transplant

Charla Nash before the attack in February 2009. (AP)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman who was viciously attacked by a chimpanzee two years ago, was deemed eligible last month for a face and hand transplant and is currently waiting for a donor.

Nash can’t see, touch or smell and struggles to eat through a straw following the mauling in February 2009 that left her horribly disfigured. The 200-pound pet chimpanzee named Travis went berserk after its owner asked Nash to help lure it back into her house in Stamford. Travis ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids.

After undergoing several pre-operative tests and evaluations, surgeons at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston gave her the green light. Earlier this month, the hospital performed the nation's first full face transplant on a Texas construction worker.

Currently, hospital officials are working with the New England Organ Bank to find donors who match Nash's tissue requirements.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.