Victim of brutal chimpanzee attack in Conn. says the death of the animal’s owner is sad

Attack victim: Death of Conn. chimp owner is sad

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut woman who was mauled and blinded in a chimpanzee attack last year says the death of the chimp’s owner is sad and that she isn’t angry at her one-time friend.

Charla Nash told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview that aired Wednesday that she was quiet when she first heard chimp owner Sandy Herold died, and then she told her brother she felt bad.

Herold’s lawyer says she died Monday night of a ruptured aortic aneurysm.

The chimpanzee ripped off Nash’s hands, nose, lips and eyelids before it was shot to death by police at Herold’s home in Stamford in February 2009. Nash says she’s sure Herold was troubled by what happened.

Nash is being evaluated at a Boston hospital for possible face and hand transplants.