Chimp attack victim wants normal life

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STAMFORD, Conn., Feb. 29 (UPI) -- Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman who lost her face and hands in an attack by a friend's chimpanzee, says her goal is to have a normal life.

In an interview with WABC-TV in New York, Nash, 58, said she hopes "to be more on my own."

"I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I want to be like everyone else," Nash answered when she was asked what she wants people to know about her.

In 2009, Nash's friend, Sandra Herrold, asked her to come over to her home in Stamford because her pet chimpanzee, Travis, was running amok. The chimp, who weighed 200 pounds, attacked Nash, ripping off her face, scalp and hands.

Travis was killed by police. Herrold died in 2010.

Nash, who had a face transplant at a Boston hospital last year, is now living in a Massachusetts rehabilitation facility. She is blind and still handless after a failed hand transplant.

Nash said Stamford and Connecticut officials knew Travis was dangerous and did nothing about it. She has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the state.

"I always thought that Travis was going to hurt someone someday but I never thought it would be me," she said.