Charla Nash, the woman who in 2009 survived a vicious attack of a chimpanzee, underwent a complicated surgery in May in which she got a new face. After being blinded and mutilated by a friend’s pet, the woman has now a new face and is adapting to her new looks very fast.

A few days ago, Charla Nash’s daughter, Brianna, and the doctor who performed the face transplant talked to Today.com about the procedure and the recovery process of their mother and patient.

One day, in 2009, Nash was at a friend’s house when the pet, a chimpanzee, suddenly attacked her, leaving her disfigured and blind.  Not only she lost her face in the attack, but she also lost both her hands.  In May 2011, the woman got a new chance that improved her odds of living a normal life: she received a full face transplant.  The operation was performed by a team of 12 doctors and lasted about 20 hours. Her new face started “accommodating” with the body perfectly. A few days after the operation, she regained the sense of smell and could already move her lips and smile.
 
However, the surgery did not go without complications. The doctors tried to attach new hands, but they were rejected by the patient’s body and had to be removed. Nevertheless, Carla Nash is now more optimistic regarding her future.  Her daughter Brianna, tells Today.com that she feels grateful having her mom back: “It’s so great that I can go do those things with her again, that I wasn’t able to do for the past two years. “

Three months and a half after Charla Nash’s operation, Dr. Bohdan Pomahac is very pleased with the results.  “I think we have most of the recovery to look forward to in the near future,” he said. Although she almost immediately started breathing through her new nose and mouth, Dr. Pomahac says that it will take longer to regain the motor function of the face muscles and that the process is years long.