In what can only be described as a true miracle, former NASCAR Winston West racing veteran ST James Davis left Loma Linda Hospital and returned to his West Covina home August 16th. A large gathering of friends and the media were standing in his front yard to cheer on his homecoming.
Davis, along with his wife LaDonna, were brutally attacked by two chimpanzees last March 3d while visiting the Animal Haven Ranch, a sanctuary for retired zoo animals, near Bakersfield. They were there to celebrate Moe the chimpanzee's 39th birthday. The Davises adopted Moe at birth and raised him like the son they never had.
Moe was placed at the animal sanctuary in 1999 following complaints from West Covina authorities one, of which, alledged that he had bitten off a woman's finger tip who was visiting the Davis home at the time.
During the course of the visit, four chimpanzees escaped from their cage. Two of them attacked the Davises St James sustained massive injuries to his face, hands and feet. LaDonna Davis was treated for animal bites including the loss of a thumb on her left hand. Moe remained in his cage, stunned, and had nothing to do with the incident.
Davis was transported to the Loma Linda Hospital and was placed in a medically induced coma until doctors revived him in early July. He has already endured several experimental surgical procedures and even more will be scheduled in the near future. However, the one prescription that the medical team felt was most prudent was the homecoming. They felt it would be good for Davis, both emotionally and physically, to return to the warmth and comfort of his own home between future medical procedures.
All through this ordeal LaDonna Davis has been a tower of strength for her husband and her emotional state was clearly evident during the homecoming. Reading from a prepared statement, in front of her home, she said "he's come a long way in what I consider to be a relatively short ammount of time. It's been less than six months and he's been able to come home. In reality, when this first happened, I thought it would take a lot longer than six months. We have a long way to go. In fact, he has two surgeries scheduled for next week. We are not finished with our lives together and our affection for each other."
LaDonna was flanked by well known attorney Gloria Allred who has represented the Davises from their first problem, with the city of West Covina in the late nineties, to the present. Allred stated that so far her office has not filed any civil action against the animal sanctuary despite recent revelations that it was negligence, due to the chimp's cage not being properly secured, that allowed the animals to get loose to begin with. Allred, for the past several months, has maintained that the focal point has to be, and will be, getting ST James through this medical crisis.
The fact that ST James Davis has survived the attack, considering the massive extent of his injuries, has literally astounded the medical team at Loma Linda Hospital. But with any day modern day medical miracle comes an extremely high price. All of these medical procedures have been performed without the benefit of insurance and the bills have now exceeded one million dollars.
A trust is still open to anyone who would like to help the Davises. Donations may be sent to: Pacific Western Bank, 200 South Vincent Avenue, West Covina, California, 91790. Please make sure your check is made out to the LaDonna Davis Fund so the bank will know what account to place it in.
