Chimp attack woman’s face revealed

Charla Nash, 57, underwent 20 hours of groundbreaking surgery in May giving her a full face and double hand transplant.

The latest images were released by Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where the surgery was performed.

Ms Nash was visiting friend Sandra Herold in February 2009 when Herold’s 200lb chimpanzee attacked, ripping off her nose, lips, eyelids and hands before it was shot dead by police.

The attack also left Ms Nash blind.

While medics were able to save her life, since leaving hospital she has been living at an assisted living facility, unable to eat solid food and breathing through a tube.

Before the surgery, she was also wearing a veil to disguise the extent of her injuries and she felt unable to attend key family events, such as her daughter’s high school graduation.

The hands transplanted at the same time as the donor face had to be removed as she developed pneumonia following her surgery and this interrupted the blood flow to her new limbs.

Doctors will consider repeating the procedure when new donor hands become available and she has healed sufficiently.

Surgeons believe the donated face will, eventually, conform to her own bone structure and she will gain further control over facial muscles, permitting her to breathe through her new nose.

In a statement released to accompany the new photos, Ms Nash paid tribute to the efforts of the medical team for saving her life and also giving her hope of a new one through the transplant.

She also thanked the family of the donor, who has not been named. “They gave me a face and hands. I will now be able to do things I once took for granted. I will no longer be disfigured. ”