'She looks fantastic': Woman mauled by chimp undergoes full face transplant - but her new hands have to be removed



She had to cover her face with a veil for more than two years after she was badly disfigured in a horrific attack by her friend's chimpanzee.

But now Charla Nash hopes she can begin a new life without the veil, after becoming only the third person in the U.S. to receive a full face transplant.

Doctors today revealed Ms Nash underwent the gruelling 20-hour operation at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston last month.



In a landmark procedure, surgeons also gave the 57-year-old a double hand transplant, but they later had to be removed after complications developed.

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Horrific injuries: Charla Nash hid her face under a veil after the attack, in which the chimp ripped off her nose, eyelids and lips. She has now undergone a full face transplant, only the third surgery of its kind in the U.S.

Ms Nash was left blind after the attack in February 2009, when her friend's 200lb chimp, Travis, went berzerk and ripped off her nose, lips, eyelids and hands.



She was finally declared eligible for the surgery in March, after originally being told she wouldn't be eligible for a hand transplant because of her blindness.



Last month a team of more than 30 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists painstakingly rebuilt her face. They kept the date secret to protect Ms Nash's privacy.



They took the donor's skin, underlying muscle, nerves and upper palate and transplanted the whole face on to Ms Nash's skull.



Transformation: The moment Charla Nash's family, including her daughter Briana, center, and brother Stephen, right, saw her new face. Her relatives have asked for her face to be blurred until it is healed

It means she will be able to smell, eat solid food and feel sensation on her face for the first time since the attack.

The lead surgeon, Dr Bodan Pomahac, told the Today show: 'Transplanting a face and hands together is basically an unparalleled quest.



Courage: Charla Nash pictured before the attack in February 2009, which left her face mutilated beyond recognition

'The complexity, logistically and surgically, I think makes it the most challenging thing we can do these days.'



Ms Nash has only now regained consciousness after developing severe complications, including pneumonia and kidney failure.



Her 17-year-old daughter, Briana, told Today: 'She looks fantastic, you'd never believe something like that could be done, she looks like anyone else.'

'It was so good to see she can have an experience like anyone else, and I'm just so excited for her to be able to learn to use it and let it become a part of her.'

John Orr, a spokesman for the Nash family, said the donor's identity has been kept secret, but was a 'fairly consistent match'.

The donor can be as much as 20 years younger or up to ten years older than the recipient and must have the same blood type and similar skin colour and texture.

Dr Pomahac said: 'From what we know, she will not resemble the donor. She will be looking like someone a little different than she was before the accident, but different than the donor.'

And her daughter said she can already begin to see some of her mother's features through the swelling, including her nose.

Mr Orr said: 'She's been under, so to speak, since this whole thing began, and now she's just starting to wake up.'

Gruelling operation: It took a team of more than 30 medical staff around 20 hours to perform the surgery to rebuild Charla Nash's face. Her new hands later had to be removed New face: A graphic demonstrates how muscle, nerves and skin from the donor's face were transplanted on top of Charla Nash's badly damaged face, left

He added: 'She's not aware of the hands, that she lost them. She's still groggy. She's acknowledging with a nod that someone is there, but she still has pneumonia issues. The kidneys are back working, but she isn't aware of too much yet.'

Before the operation, Ms Nash said she was looking forward to being able to live at home rather than in a facility.

She said: 'I want be able to eat on my own. I want to be able to hold a cheeseburger or a hot dog in my hand and put it in my own mouth.'

Ms Nash had hidden her face under a veil for the past two years. She bravely revealed her disfigured features in an interview with Oprah Winfrey just a few months after the attack.

Loving daughter: Briana Nash, 17, describes her mother's successful face transplant on the Today show this morning, left. Right, she sits with her mother Charla in hospital before the operation



Brave: The astonishing moment when Charla Nash removed her veil and showed her badly disfigured face to the world on the Oprah Winfrey Show

At the time she said: 'I wear (the veil) so I don't scare people. Sometimes other people might insult you, so I figure maybe it's easier if I just walk around covered up.'



Terrible attack: Travis, the 200lb chimpanzee who mauled Charla Nash in 2009. He was later shot

The chimp was later shot by police. At the time its owner, Sandra Herold, speculated the pet was trying to protect her and didn't recognise Ms Nash because she had changed her hairstyle.

Ms Herold died of an aneurysm last year. Ms Nash's family are suing her estate for $50million and wants to sue the state for $150million, saying officials failed to prevent the attack.

The double transplant was the first of its kind in the U.S., and has only been performed once before in the world, in France.

It was paid for by the Department of Defense, through a contract it gave Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2009 to cover the cost of face transplants for veterans and some civilians, hospital officials said.

Two other face transplants have been performed at the hospital this year.

In March, Dallas Wiens became the first person in America to undergo the surgery, after his features were all but burned away when he hit a power line while painting a church.

Just a month later Mitch Hunter, 30, also underwent the surgery. His face was severely disfigured and burned during a car accident that toppled high-voltage electrical wires.

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