A woman who had her face and hands ripped off by an enraged chimpanzee has finally spoken about the horrible attack and about her face transplant.

Charla Nash is a 55-year-old single mother from Connecticut, USA and was left clinging to life after being attacked by a pet chimpanzee whilst trying to coax it back into its enclosure. She spoke to Channel 5/Peacock Productions.

The mother has also been left blind from the attack, which was so horrific her friend was certain she was dead.

Nash, who has endured unbearable pain and hours of operations, has spoken out for the first time about her revolutionary new face transplant.

"A lot of people tell me I look beautiful and I never had anyone tell me that before," she told Channel 5/Peacock Productions.

"I look OK now and I don't have to worry about scaring anyone."

The recovery process will take years and she will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of her life to stop the body rejecting the alien tissue.

Unfortunately, organic replacements for her hands were immediately rejected by her body; however doctors are positive they can perform the operation with success in future.

When asked if she was upset about the hand transplant not working, Charla said: "I was a little disappointed but not upset because you can't control what's going to happen."

Dohdan Pomahac, one of around a dozen doctors working with Miss Nash told Sky News it would be a gradual recovery process: "Nine months to a year is typically when they can control the face and smile."

Charla is looking to the future from now on and accepts the attack as one of life's unforeseeable incidents: "I think in the beginning, I always wondered 'why me?'," she said.

"But then again, my whole life has not been easy but I never gave up."