"Oprah Chimp Victim" Charla Nash Wants $50M, Chimp Owner Lawyers Call it Work Accident
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) Attorneys for the owner of the chimp that violently attacked Charla Nash, disfiguring and blinding her, have argued that the incident should be treated as a workers' compensation claim, and nothing more.
PICTURES: Chimp Victim Charla Nash (Warning Graphic Images)
Nash's family has filed a $50 million lawsuit against Sandra Herold, her friend and former employer, who asked Nash to help lure the 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, back into her Stamford, Conn. home on Feb. 16.
PICTURES: Chimp Victim Charla Nash (Warning Graphic Images)
That resulted in a brutal 12-minute attack in which Nash lost her eyes, nose and hands. Herold placed a horrifying 911 call in which she tells cops to bring guns because her chimpanzee was eating Nash.
The lawsuit states that Herold was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control "a wild animal with violent propensities."
"I always told her you have to get rid of him. He's going to hurt somebody someday. He's too dangerous," Nash said on Wednesday's episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." "You can't control him, and he's going to hurt somebody."
Despite the fact that her chimpanzee has left Nash without eyes or hands and having to eat through a straw, Herold's attorney Robert Golger says her injuries are merely work-related.
"All of Sandy's hopes and prayers are with Charla and her daughter in this challenging time," a statement released by Golger read. "Sandy hopes and prays for a full and speedy recovery."
Nash worked for Herold's towing business, which Herold ran out of the same house where she kept her pet chimpanzee.
Nash says she feels she's "been thrown under a bus" since the attack occurred and legal proceedings began.
PICTURES: Chimp Victim Charla Nash (Warning Graphic Images)
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