A Connecticut mother whose face was left disfigured by a chimpanzee attack may be a candidate for a face and hand transplant, ABC News reported Monday.

Charla Nash, 57, had originally been told by doctors that she was not eligible for the lengthy and dangerous surgeries.

Nash had her face, nose, lips and eyelids ripped off by a 200-pound (90kg) chimpanzee named Travis in Samford, Connecticut in February 2009. The attack happened while she was helping to lure the animal back into the owner’s home.

She was discharged from a live-in medical facility, the Cleveland Clinic, in Ohio last week and is being evaluated by a team of doctors in Boston to determine what surgeries they may be able to perform.

“Charla Nash is at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for a preliminary evaluation to determine if she is a potential candidate for face and hand transplant. We expect her to be at Brigham and Women’s for a couple of days,” hospital spokesman Peter Brown said in a statement.

Nash underwent a number of surgeries at the Cleveland Clinic.

She first revealed her injuries publicly in November 2009 on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Her family is suing the suing the chimp’s owner, Sandra Herold, for US$50 million and wants to sue the state of Connecticut for $150 million, saying it failed to prevent the attack.