Charla Nash‘s life was forever changed on Feb. 16, 2009. Her ordeal began with an innocuous call from her longtime friend Sandy Herold. Travis, Sandy’s pet chimpanzee, was agitated. Charla had known Travis for years, so Sandy asked if she’d help calm him down.
Charla agreed but instead of calming Travis she inadvertently enraged him, causing him to brutally attack her, disfigure her, and leave her inches from death before he was executed by police. The attack got international attention and sparked outcry over keeping chimpanzees as pets. Was it wrong? Was it safe? Was Sandy responsible for Charla’s disfigurement? Let’s start from the beginning.
Where did Sandy Herold get Travis the Chimp?
Sandy Herold became an unlikely millionaire after her third husband Jerry opened a lucrative tow business and auto body shop in Stamford, Connecticut. Her daughter had just moved away and Sandy’s parents had both recently passed as well. She was at a rodeo with longtime friend Charla Nash and saw a chimpanzee riding a horse. She met the rodeo chimp backstage and he jumped in her arms. From then on she knew she wanted a chimp of her own.
In 1995, Sandy flew to Missouri to pick up a baby chimpanzee. She named him Travis after her favorite country singer Travis Tritt. He was the son of an African chimp named Coco and a retired zoo chimp named Suzy. She paid $50,000 in cash and flew home with Travis swaddled in blankets. At home, she bottle-fed him and treated him just like a mother would treat a human child. She changed his diaper, burped him and put him down for naps.
Soon he was pulling himself around and then he was walking. He learned how to use the toilet and would get in the bathtub with Sandy and her husband. He learned to brush his teeth and Sandy bought him a whole wardrobe, which she would dress him in every day. The Herolds modified their home, adding a room so Travis could be alone and a series of rope swings around the house.
Travis became a fixture at the auto shop, which was also retrofitted with trampolines, rope swings, and tires. Sandy’s depression over her parents and daughter lifted. Travis was smart. He could play catch, ride a tricycle, a bike, and a ride-on lawnmower. He ate at the table for meals and loved filet mignon and lobster tail. He loved candy and could also pour himself refreshments, with juice or soda being his favorite.
He was mischievous too. He’d change channels on the TV or turn up the volume when Sandy was on the phone. Charla often visited and liked to watch while Travis used oak trees like a jungle gym. He became famous in Stamford, going on tow calls and visiting with police officers. Strangers in town would even let him hold their babies. Then tragedy struck and her daughter died in a car crash. Sandy was devastated and now, she told people, Travis was her only child.
By 2003, Travis was getting harder to control. Sandy and her husband Jerry were in their SUV at an intersection when someone randomly threw a plastic bottle into the window where Travis was sitting. He unbuckled and chased, ended up in the street jumping on cars. He was having the time of his life, getting chased by cops and cheered on by spectators. After a two-hour chase, he got back in the SUV and buckled himself in.
As Travis continued to age, State Department of Environmental Protection became worried about the fact that Travis was a full adult and fully sexualized, giving him the strength of five men. Adult chimps are notoriously dangerous and officers told Sandy that it wasn’t a good idea to keep Travis in that condition, especially for the duration of his lifespan. Sandy listened, but since Travis had never been violent she brushed aside those concerns. That would prove to be a tragic mistake.
Travis the Chimp Attacks
On April 12, 2005, Jerry Herold succumbed to stomach cancer. Before he died, he pleaded with Sandy to put Travis in a sanctuary, saying he was too much to handle alone. After his passing, Travis was despondent and spent the next year rocking in place and stroking Sandy’s hair.
By 2008, Travis was 240 pounds and morbidly fat. On February 16, he was agitated. She was cleaning his room and he stole the keys and went into the yard. He didn’t want to do any physical activities, or even watch TV or pet the cat. Sandy put Xanax, a benzodiazepine, in his afternoon tea. She called Charla, told her Travis was outside and didn’t want to come back in. Charla would later say Sandy asked her to come, and Sandra would say Charla volunteered.
Charla also had a new hairdo and maybe that’s why Travis did what he did. Doctors also theorized it might have been the Xanax that set him off. Regardless, Charla tried to lure Travis into the house with his favorite toy: a Tickle Me Elmo. For some reason, seeing Charla with his toy enraged him. Travis sprinted at her and then jumped on her.
All of a sudden Charla was thrown against a car. Then she was on the ground and a pool of blood began to form. He stayed on her and Sandy got a shovel and beat him over the head. Nothing. She got a knife and started stabbing him in the back. Every stab, she said, felt like she was stabbing herself. Still, Travis would not stop. He was pulling on Charla violently, biting her, and chewing on her. “Stop!” she yelled. “Travis! It’s Charla, Travis!”
Sandy called 911, screaming that her chimp had killed her friend. “Send the police!” she yelled. “He ripped her face off!” She screamed for officers to come and shoot Travis. Twelve agonizing minutes later they arrived. Charla was mostly naked and dripping with her own blood. Travis continued his rampage, approaching a cop car and snapping off a mirror. He opened the car door and showed his bloody teeth, and he was promptly shot four times. Travis yelled and ran away back to his bedroom, where he died.
Charla was devastatingly injured. Travis ripped and chewed off most of her face and smashed her skull. He also ripped off her hands and he blinded her. Still, she survived. She has no hands and she is blind, but she is alive. She had countless surgeries, including a face transplant. She won a $50 million lawsuit from the Herolds. She appeared on Oprah.
These days, she spends her time taking in audiobooks and music. The US Army footed the bill for her face surgery in exchange for letting them study the effects on her. She hopes that maybe the information they get from her will help disfigured soldiers in the future. She tries not to dwell on the past, instead saying that she only thinks about the future, and moving forward.
