Salman Rushdie’s agent is sharing a grim update after the author was stabbed onstage on Friday.
Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie spoke out to The New York Times shortly before 7pm on Aug. 12, revealing how the 75-year-old is doing, saying that he is on a ventilator and “could not speak.”
“The news is not good. Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” Wylie told the publication.
The update comes after Rushdie, known for “The Satanic Verses” and “Midnight’s Children,” was stabbed onstage ahead of a planned lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
Today’s attack on Salman Rushdie was also an attack on some of our most sacred values — the free expression of thought.
We condemn all violence.
We stand up to attacks on our fundamental rights.
And we remain firm in our commitment to freedom to speak and to write truth. pic.twitter.com/rwRSNn40VU— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) August 12, 2022
“On August 12, 2022, at about 11 a.m., a male suspect ran up onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer. Rushdie suffered and apparent stab wound to the neck, and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital,” New York State Police Major Eugene J. Staniszewski said in a press release on Friday.
The press release also revealed that a suspect had been taken into custody on the scene and that interviewer Henry Reese had also been injured during the attack.
“The interviewer suffered a minor head injury. A State Trooper assigned to the event immediately took the suspect into custody. The Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office assisted at the scene.”
The suspect has been identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, and the motive for the attack is under investigation, according to NBC News.
Major Eugene J. Staniszewski also told NBC News that a doctor present at the event rushed to render Rushdie aid before EMS workers arrived on scene.
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