When Sandra and her husband Jerome Herold heard about the tragic three-day old chimp who needed a home, they knew they had to do something.
The tiny chimp had been left with no one when his mother was shot dead as she tried to flee the Missouri Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
The couple welcome the chimp into their home and in no time at all he became a key part of the family.
Travis, named after Sandra’s favourite singer, Travis Tritt, went everywhere with the couple - from work to shopping.
He was a firm favourite at Jerome’s trucking company and everyone who knew the couple grew fond of the chimp.
After growing up around humans his entire life, Travis loved people and would enjoy wrestling with Sandra and Jerome’s neighbour.
Not only that but Travis was incredibly self-sufficient. He would dress himself, water the houseplants in the couple’s home, could unlock doors and even feed the Herold’s horses hay.
Like the rest of the family, Travis sat the table for meals and even enjoyed a tipple of wine from a stemmed glass.
His favourite food was ice-cream and he learned when the ice-cream truck would be visiting the Herold’s street.
Technology was also no barrier to the little chimp, who could log into a computer to look at pictures of his favourite things.
He also loved baseball and would use the TV remote control to switch channels whenever a game was on.
Tragically, when Jerome passed away in 2004, Travis turned into a huge comfort for grieving Sandra.
When her only son died in a car crash, Travis became the perfect replacement for the child Sandra had lost.
She said: “He slept with me every night. Until you’ve eaten with a chimp and bathed with a chimp, you don’t know a chimp.”
Charla Nash had been friends with Sandra for years and knew Travis, who had always been comfortable around her.
The 55-year-old had called round the see Sandra to check on her, something she did regularly.
But on this occasion, Travis ran out of the house with Sandra’s car keys and Charla was only too happy to help her friend get him back into the home.
Then, the unthinkable happened. The Charla walked out of the house holding one of Travis’ favourite toys - a Tickle Me Elmo - he lunged at her.
Sandra desperately tried to help her friend, hitting him with a spade and even stabbing him - but he wouldn’t release his horrifying grip on Charla.
Left with no choice, Sandra called emergency services, who for several minutes thought she was joking until she started screaming “he’s eating her, he’s eating her” into the phone.
The officers arrived, they were greeted with a truly chilling scene.
After watching Travis calming walk out of the house and try to open the door to their locked squad car.
When he couldn’t get in, he smashed a wing mirror and strolled to the driver’s door before getting in.
He was shot several times by one of the officers and after trying to make his way back into the house, Travis was found dead just outside.
But it was Charla’s injuries that truly horrified paramedics and police at the scene.
Travis had ripped off her hands, nose, lips and torn out her eyes. He had also smashed all of the bones in the middle of her face.
Charla underwent seven hours of surgery to save her life - and those who operated on her were later offered counselling because he injuries had been so severe.
Two years after the attack that would forever change her live, Charla was offered a hand and face transplant.
The hand transplant was initially successful but Charla faced fresh tragedy when they had to be removed after she contracted pneumonia.
However, the face transplant was successful and Charla has worked hard to rebuild her life.
Unable to look after herself because of her appalling injuries, she had to move into a care home, where she said she often feels isolated because people avoid being around her due to her appearance.
Charla said: “I’ve never been a quitter. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot I can do.
“I’ve lost so much independence. I could change my own truck tyre and now I can’t even feed myself.
“It’s very hard to live. Not even live - half life. Sometimes you want to cry, you want out, you want some kind of home.”
Still hopeful of one day returning home and being able to live independently, Charla now spends her days listening to audio books and going on walks in the grounds of her care home.
