Salman Rushdie survived, but lost sight of one eye and one hand

NEW YORK — Salman Rushdie’s agent has announced that the author lost sight in one eye and use of one hand after being attacked by a man who rushed onto the stage at an event. literature in August in Western New York.

Literary agent Andrew Wylie told Spanish-language newspaper El Pais in an article on Saturday that Mr Rushdie suffered three serious neck injuries and 15 other chest and torso injuries in the attack.

Mr. Rushdie, 75, spent years in hiding after Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an edict ― or fatwa ― in 1989 calling for his death, following the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous.

Hadi Matar, 24, of New Jersey, was jailed after pleading not guilty to attempted murder and assault in the August 12 attack.

After the attack, Mr Rushdie was treated at a hospital in Pennsylvania, where he was briefly put on a ventilator to recover from what Mr Wylie described to El Pais as a ‘brutal attack’ that cut off his legs. nerves of an arm.

Mr. Wylie declined to say whether Mr. Rushdie remained in hospital or discuss his whereabouts.

“He will live (…) This is the important thing”, he underlined.

The attack corresponded to what Mr. Rushie and his agent considered to be the “main danger (…) an unknown person coming out of nowhere”, Mr. Wylie told El Pais. « So you can’t protect against that because it’s totally unexpected and illogical. »

Mr Wylie told the newspaper it was like the murder of Beatles member John Lennon, shot dead by Mark David Chapman outside his Manhattan building on December 8, 1980.

In a jailhouse interview with the New York Post, Mr. Matar said he disliked Mr. Rushdie and praised Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.