Salman Rushdie Health Update: Author Now Fighting for His Life After He Was Stabbed 15 Times at New York Literary Event

By Rick Martin First Posted: Aug 13, 2022 05:42 AM EDT

Author Salman Rushdie was attacked and stabbed 15 times while doing a lecture in western New York on Friday.

The controversial Indian-born British-American novelist was stabbed by a man with a knife who climbed on the stage of the Chautauqua Institution before he began assaulting him.

According to the Associated Press, Rushdie was due to discuss the importance of persecuted writers having a place to work. However, the attack disrupted the event, leaving the 75-year-old author in critical condition.

Salman Rushdie Health Update After He Was Stabbed in New York

According to authorities, Salman Rushdie is in pretty bad shape. The author's attacker stabbed him 15 times, including in the neck and the abdomen.

According to AP, Rushdie was seated and being introduced when his attacker climbed onstage and started assaulting him in front of hundreds of people.

Witness John Stein told ABC that he saw blood splattering while the suspect stabbed Rushdie on the right side of his head and neck. Stein said there was blood on the floor, the wall behind where the author was attacked, and the chair he was sitting on.

The bloodied Rushdie was airlifted to a hospital following the attack. His agent, Andrew Wylie, provided an update on the author on Friday night.

Wylie said Rushdie will likely lose one eye, and the nerves in his arm were severed. He added that the author's liver was also damaged. The agent further noted that Rushdie is currently on a ventilator and cannot speak.

The Daily Mail reported that Rushdie's son, Zafar, 42, who lives in London, was already aware of the incident. The attack drew a response from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who said the attack was heartbreaking.

In an unrelated press conference, Hochul confirmed that Rushdie was still alive. She said a state police trooper stood up and saved Rushdie's life after the attack. The governor noted that the novelist had "spent decades speaking truth to power."

Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, was also attacked by the suspect. Police said he was released from a hospital Friday after he was treated for a facial injury.

Suspect in Stabbing Salman Rushdie Arrested and Identified

Police said the suspect still managed to walk on stage before he was restrained. According to police, Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, gained access to the grounds with a pass.

Authorities descended on his home just hours after the attack. Police are still investigating his motives. According to the New York Post, initial investigations suggest that Matar might be sympathetic toward the Iranian regime and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard.

Rushdie is a wanted man in Iran. Country's former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had even issued a fatwah against him for his 1988 novel, "The Satanic Verses," which was considered blasphemous by some Muslims.

The fatwa or edict called for the author's death in 1989. A $3 million bounty was even placed on his head. The fatwah was followed by book burnings and riots across the Muslim world.

The death threats and bounty led Salman Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government-funded protection program.

He emerged after nine years of seclusion and resumed his public appearances, speaking criticism of religious extremism. Reports said the author has been in the United States since 2000.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Author Salman Rushdie Stabbed Before Lecture At Chautauqua Institution - From MSNBC