Salman Rushdie on ventilator; liver damaged after being stabbed; likely to lose an eye

Author Salman Rushdie is on a ventilator and has suffered serious damage to his liver after being stabbed at an event in western New York, his agent Andrew Wylie said in an update on his condition on Friday. Rushdie will likely lose one eye, he added, noting that the "news is not good".

“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 said in a statement to NYT.

Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years over his 1988 book "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident at an event in New York State. Hadi Matar (24) from Fairview has been identified as the suspect who stabbed Rushdie in the neck.

Salman Rushdie stabbed

The incident occurred when the 'Midnight's Children' author was on the stage at the Chautauqua Institution, a not-for-profit community in southwestern New York.

Rushdie (75) was provided medical treatment by a doctor who was in the audience until emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene. "The doctor immediately began first aid" on Rushdie. He was then airlifted to a local trauma center and was "undergoing surgery" at about 5 pm local time, several hours after the attack that occurred at approximately 10:47 am, an official said. 

Rushdie was about to speak at the special Chautauqua Lecture Series event exploring the theme of "More than Shelter" for a "discussion on the United States as an asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression". He was joined by Henry Reese, co-founder of the Pittsburgh nonprofit City of Asylum, the largest residency program in the world for writers living in exile under the threat of persecution.

The New York State Police said at approximately 10:47 am local time, Rushdie and Reese (73) had just arrived on stage at the Chautauqua Institution for the event. "Shortly thereafter, the suspect jumped onto the stage and attacked Rushdie, stabbing him at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen." 

Several members of the staff at the institution and audience members rushed to the suspect and took him to the ground. A trooper with the New York State Police, who was at the institution, took the suspect into custody with the assistance of a Chautauqua County Sheriff's deputy.