charla nash never served in the military she was horribly disfigured, not in combat, but in a 2009 attack by a rampaging chimpanzee the pentagon, though, is watching her recovery closely the us military paid for nash's full face transplant in 2011 and is underwriting her follow up treatment at a combined cost estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the hope that some of the things it learns can help young, seriously disfigured soldiers returning from war in the coming weeks nash will take part in a military funded experiment in which doctors at boston's brigham and women's hospital will try to wean her off the anti rejection drugs she has been taking since the transplant scroll down for video  charla nash (pictured last month) was seriously disfigured after being attacked by her employer's 200 pound pet chimpanzee in stamford, connecticut  the 61 year old (pictured) was working as a dispatcher for a towing company at the time of the attack  the us military paid for nash's full face transplant in 2011 and is underwriting her follow up treatment at a combined cost estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars  nash jokes about sometimes feeling like a science project but the 61 year old daughter of an air force veteran said she gets real satisfaction out of letting the doctors use her for research, and sees it as an opportunity to help wounded soldiers and 'do something good out of all of this bad' 'they asked me, could they? i said, `yeah, i'd be thrilled to help out in any way i could,'' said nash, a former connecticut resident who now lives on her own in boston with the help of part time aides nash lost her nose, lips, eyelids and hands when she was mauled by her employer's 200 pound pet chimpanzee in stamford, connecticut doctors also had to remove her eyes because of a disease transmitted by the chimp she later received new facial features taken from a dead woman she also underwent a double hand transplant, but it failed when her body rejected the tissue now blind, nash spends most of her days listening to am radio and books on tape   lately, 'war and peace'   in her modest, second story apartment military bosses hope that some of the things it learns from funding nash's treatment will end up helping young, seriously disfigured soldiers returning from war  charla nash is set to take part in an experiment in which doctors  will try to wean her off the anti rejection drugs she has been taking since the transplant  a care worker brushes charla nash's teeth, which were provided by an organ donor along with her face, at her apartment in boston  nash lost her nose, lips, eyelids and hands after she was attacked by her employer's chimp travis (pictured) in 2009  attack: charla was mauled by travis, pictured, as she tried to help the chimp's owner catch the animal  she also exercises a couple of days a week with a trainer at a gym to build her strength and stay healthy a gofundme account is being set up to help raise money for prosthetic hands her life today is a stark contrast to her younger years, when she was a barrel racer on the rodeo circuit from the 1970s through the mid 1990s over the years, she also did some horse jumping, worked on a farm and manned a computer help desk she was working as a dispatcher for a towing company at the time of the attack about every six weeks, nash undergoes lab tests for the military at brigham and women's she is also subjected to mris and ct scans to determine how well her brain is sending signals to her new face in addition, doctors examine how well the arteries are delivering blood to the transplant the military is also interested in such things as any scarring around the mouth and how well her eyelids work charla nash grabs the arm of shuttle driver roland copeland as they walk from her apartment in boston  dr bohdan pomahac, the director of plastic surgery and transplantation at the brigham and women's hospital, talks with charla nash during an appointment  about every six weeks, she undergoes lab tests for the military at the hospital she also exercises a couple of days a week with a trainer at a gym to build her strength and stay healthy  'it makes sense for us to look at the civilian community and the experiences that are gained through the involvement of non uniformed people to assess if this is a good solution for the military,' said dr brian pfister, a portfolio manager for the us army medical research and materiel command's clinical and rehabilitative medicine research program about 35 full or partial face transplants have been performed worldwide since the first one was done in france in 2005 the defense department estimates 560 soldiers have suffered severe facial wounds in iraq and afghanistan of those, about 50 or 60 might be candidates for a face transplant, pfister said the pentagon is providing grants to 14 medical facilities across the us through its hand and face transplantation program the face and the extremities are the two most frequently injured parts of the body in war charla nash (pictured) drinks a cup of hot coffee through a straw while visiting a cafe in boston  medics insist charla nash (pictured) is doing 'remarkably well' and has experienced very few rejection episodes, making her a good candidate for the experiment  now blind, charla nash spends most of her days listening to am radio and books on tape   lately, 'war and peace'   in her modest, second story apartment  the new experiment, involving the suspension of anti rejection drugs, will eventually include other patients, and its findings could potentially affect hundreds of thousands of people, military and civilian alike, doctors said the immunosuppression drugs that transplant patients are typically given for the rest of their lives carry such risks as cancer, viral infections and kidney damage because of those dangers, many transplants of non vital body parts, such as thumbs, are not considered worth doing but that could change if the drugs don't have to be a lifelong commitment 'suddenly, it's not as crazy to think about transplanting individual fingers or an ear,' said dr bohdan pomahac, who led nash's transplant surgery team nash will be switched to a different substance, interleukin 2, which is normally used to treat skin and kidney cancers the hope is that it will promote growth of good cells that protect the transplant while attacking those that want to reject it pomahac said nash is doing 'remarkably well' and has experienced very few rejection episodes, making her a good candidate for the experiment 'i think there's an overarching purpose in her life she really wants to help in whatever way she can,' he said 'she's very much a forward looking woman'
charla nash 2009 200 pound stamford connecticut us 61 year old 2011 hundreds of thousands of dollars nash boston brigham and women's hospital
charla nash was disfigured in a 2009 attack by a rampaging chimpanzee  she was mauled by her employer's 200 pound pet in stamford, connecticut  the us military paid for a full face transplant for the 61 year old in 2011  it is funding follow up treatment costing hundreds of thousands of dollars  they hope lessons learned can aid disfigured soldiers returning from war  nash will be weaned off anti rejection drugs taken since the transplant  the treatment is to take place at boston's brigham and women's hospital 