Chimp Attack Victim Charla Nash Attends Hearing on Her $150M Lawsuit

Charla Nash, who was horrifically mauled by her friend and former employer Sandra Herold's pet chimpanzee, Travis, in 2009 at Herold's Stamford home, reportedly made a rare appearance at a public hearing in Hartford Friday regarding her against the state in connection with the incident.

Nash, who has made only a few high profile appearances since being one of the first people to receive a , including an interview on the Oprah Winfrey show last year, sat in the hearing room at the Capitol and listened Friday as her attorney described what her life has been like since the gruesome attack, in which she also lost her eyes and hands, according to a report in the Stamford Advocate.

Travis was shot and killed by police as the attack occurred — and Herold has since passed away.

Nash is reportedly seeking a $150 million settlement with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (formerly DEP), saying officials and had they acted in time.

State Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr., who presided over the hearing, will decide whether Nash can proceed with the suit.

"The lack of action on the Department of Environmental Protection's part is egregious and certainly shows systematic, institutional negligence on the part of the DEP," Charles Willinger, one of Nash's attorneys, told the Advocate in June.

Attorneys for the state have said the was vague at the time the attack took place, therefore there is no grounds for the lawsuit.
During Friday's hearing, Willinger said as a result of the attack Nash now lives "in total darkness, without eyes, without hands, without her face, permanently scarred emotionally, psychologically and physically," according to the report.

"She has endured and continues to endure loneliness, despair and suffering beyond anyone's comprehension in this room," he said, according to the report.

For more, check out the Stamford Advocate report.