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A woman who had her face and hands ripped off by a chimpanzee, has told of her battle to cope five years on.

Charla Nash spoke about the isolation she feels but added she was determined to get better regardless.

“I've never been a quitter,” she said.

And now, three years after her face transplant, Charla is even practising expressions so she can learn to smile again.

But she revealed that other residents at the American care home where she lives no longer go near her because of her appalling injuries.

“Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do,” she said. “I’ve lost so much independence. I could change my own truck tyre, and now I can’t even feed myself.”

The 60-year-old was left fighting for her life in February 2009 after a friend’s pet chimp launched a brutal attack on her.

The monkey called, Travis, seriously disfigured her and she sustained extensive damage to her eyes, nose, lips and hands.

Two years after the assault Charla underwent reconstructive surgery and was given a new face.

Doctors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston also fitted the single mum with a glass eye but were unsuccessful in attempts to transplant a hand.

Recently she was fitted with teeth that allow her to chew tougher foods, such as chicken.

“It's very hard to live. Not even live - half-live,” Charla added.

“Sometimes you want to cry, you want out, you want some kind of home. I don't know what my future is, that's the scary part.”

She explained how she now spends her days listening to audio books alone and going for walks in the grounds of her nursing home in Massachusetts.

She puts herself through gruelling physical therapy on her face as she works to strengthen her jaw.

“They just made some bottom teeth for me recently,” she said. “I'm not used to them yet. It's still a little bit of work eating.

“I can't chew steak. I can chew chicken, it's a little softer. I can chew pizza. The crust is hard, but the pizza is OK. I'm starting to get back into eating salads again. That was my favourite, salads.”

Charla said she hoped one day she will be able to move back home after finding staff and residents now keep their distance out of fear.

Talking about Travis the chimp, who was shot dead by police, she said she never felt at ease around the monkey after it was locked up in Sandra Herold’s Connecticut home. Sandra died of an aneurysm four years ago.

“I remember looking at him in his cage and feeling sorry for him,” added Charla.

“My thoughts were always ‘How is she allowed this animal in her house? What if he gets loose someday and somebody gets hurt?’ “I know the animals are cute - but they're just not pets.”

After the attack, her family sought permission to sue Connecticut for £100 million for failing to seize the animal before the attack.

But her action was denied after authorities said state law did not prohibit the private ownership of chimpanzees at the time of the attack.

