'I had tears in my eyes and was laughing and I told her, 'It hurts. 'One time he was running around the yard and swinging off the trees of the house, and he jumped on my back and he pulled a big hunk of hair out of my head,' she says. One thing Charla does remember, though, is that Travis the chimp had always been scary. Charla's face and hands were ripped off by teenage chimp, Travis in an attack which many still struggle to comprehend. I don't want to wake up with nightmares.' 'I don't want to remember, because I couldn't imagine what it was like,' she says.

'I'd like to put across to people's minds that these exotic animals are very dangerous and they shouldn't be around.'Ĭharla says she can't remember anything from the day of the vicious attack, and she's glad for that. A woman who raised a pet chimpanzee as her son for 14 years has talked about the moment he ripped her friend’s face off in a frenzied attack. 'I'm getting stronger and healthier,' Charla says. Travis the Chimp: Sandra Heralds 911 call in 2009. On her 56th birthday, she opened up to Oprah. A large portion of her scalp is missing, she only has one thumb, and doctors have created a hole in her face for her to get fluids through a straw.įor the past nine months, Charla's been recovering at the Cleveland Clinic.

Haunting audio captured the moment Sandra desperately phoned for help - a call which police originally thought to be a hoax. Bones from Charla’s face were shattered and doctors later had to reattach her jaw. Against all odds, Charla survived the brutal attack though the chimp broke most of the bones in her face and ripped off her nose, lips, eyes and hands. Travis used his huge primate teeth to tear off Charla’s hands - before attacking her her lips, eyelids, eyes, and nose.

Oprah chimpanzee face rips off