Two weeks after he was brutally attacked by chimps, St. James Davis remains in critical condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center, where doctors have described his struggle to survive as "minute by minute."
Davis, 62, who remains unconscious, has undergone numerous surgeries since the attack March 3, said his wife, LaDonna Davis. During one 12-hour operation immediately after the mauling, Davis underwent a tracheotomy, and his nose and lips were reattached. He underwent more facial surgery Monday.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday March 17, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 78 words Type of Material: Correction
Chimp -- An article in the California section Wednesday about a West Covina couple recently attacked by two chimps incorrectly reported that their own chimp, Moe, was placed in a Kern County animal sanctuary in 1999. Moe was taken from St. James and LaDonna Davis after biting a police officer and was placed at the Wildlife Waystation in the Angeles National Forest in 1999. The animal was moved to the Animal Haven Ranch in Kern County in 2004.
But a lung infection is complicating his recovery. Doctors also worry about inflammation of the brain.
"They [doctors] have been very honest with me," LaDonna Davis said in a recent interview. "They tell me right now it's minute by minute."
Every day starts the same, with an early morning call to a trauma nurse to check on her husband's condition, Davis said. She then makes the 40-minute drive from her West Covina home to the hospital, where she confers with doctors.
The rest of the time, she spends sitting with St. James, doing her best to comfort her husband of 35 years.
"I lean over and talk into his ear and tell him he better get better and that I want to go dancing with him," she said.
The day of the attack was supposed to be a happy occasion for the couple. The Davises drove to Animal Haven Ranch in Kern County to host a birthday party for Moe, a 39-year-old chimpanzee they had rescued from African poachers and cared for at their home since the 1960s.
Authorities removed the chimp from the Davises' home and placed him at Animal Haven in 1999 after he bit a West Covina police officer and chomped on a woman's finger.
Since then, the Davises visited Moe, whom they treated more like their son than a wild animal, at least three times a month.
On this visit, the Davises sat next to Moe's outdoor cage so they could talk to him and feed him cake through the fence.
"I cut them each [Moe and St. James] a piece of cake and then was going to cut myself a piece," LaDonna Davis said. "Moe was giggling and clapping."
Suddenly, two other adult male chimps appeared, startling the couple.
"When I turned around, I saw one of the males out of the corner of my eye," she said. "We made eye contact, and he charged."
As the ape approached her, Davis said, she turned around and placed her arm around St. James. One of the chimps hit her hard from behind, knocking the couple over.
