Author Salman Rushdie was going to give a lecture on speech when he was stabbed in the neck
Author Salman Rushdie is currently on a ventilator following being stabbed ahead of his speech in New York.
The Satanic Verses writer was stabbed in the neck by a man who was later identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution.
A bloodied Rushdie was flown to a hospital and underwent surgery. His agent, Andrew Wylie, said the writer was on a ventilator Friday evening.
The motive for the attack remains unclear.
The controversial writer has also been reported to have a damaged liver, severed nerves in his arm and an eye he was likely to lose.
An AP reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as the author was being introduced.
Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdie’s wounds as “serious but recoverable.”