Salman Rushdie’s condition remains serious two days after suffering injuries in a stabbing at a lecture in upstate New York, but his agent confirms “The Satanic Verses” author is “on the road to recovery.” Rushdie’s “condition is headed in the right direction,” the 75-year-old’s agent, Wylie, told The Associated Press on Sunday, a day after it was announced that the author was removed from a ventilator and able to talk and joke.
Wylie said Rushdie’s recovery would be a long process after previously saying the author suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, which Rushdie was likely to lose.
The prize-winning writer — who spent years under police protection after Iranian leaders called for Rushdie’s killing over his portrayal of Islam and the Prophet Mohammed in his novel “The Satanic Verses” — was about to be interviewed as part of a lecture series when a man rushed the stage and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck and abdomen.
The suspected assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey, was wrestled to the ground by staff and other audience members before being taken into police custody. He was later arraigned in court and pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges.
Rushdie’s son said the family was “extremely relieved” that his father was breathing unaided and had been able to “say a few words.” Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact. The event host who was on stage with Rushdie and was also injured in the attack said he initially thought it was a practical joke until he realized his famous guest was bleeding.
“It was very difficult to understand. It looked like a sort of bad prank and it didn’t have any sense of reality. And then, when there was blood behind him, it became real.
Source: thesouthafrican
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