Report: Salman Rushdie lives, but loses use of eye and hand
Associated Press
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Joshua Bessex
A person makes a call outside the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Joshua Goodman
Author Salman Rushdie is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., about 75 miles (120 km) south of Buffalo. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman)
Evan Agostini
FILE - Salman Rushdie attends the 68th National Book Awards Ceremony and Benefit Dinner on Nov. 15, 2017, in New York. Rushdie was attacked while giving a lecture in western New York. An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man storm the stage Friday at the Chautauqua Institution as Rushdie was being introduced. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
Rogelio V. Solis
FILE - Author Salman Rushdie appears during the Mississippi Book Festival in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 18, 2018. Rushdie, whose writing led to death threats, has been attacked on stage at an event in western New York (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Joshua Goodman
Blood stains mark a screen as author Salman Rushdie, behind screen, is tended to after he was attacked during a lecture, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., about 75 miles (120 km) south of Buffalo. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman)
UGC
In this still image from video, author Salman Rushdie is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo)
Joshua Bessex
An officer stands outside a gate of the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Joshua Bessex
An officer stands outside a gate of the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Joshua Goodman
Law enforcement stand watch outside at the Chautauqua Institution after author Salman Rushdie was attacked during a lecture, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y., about 75 miles (120 km) south of Buffalo. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman)
Joshua Bessex
An officer with the Chautauqua Sheriff's Department speaks to a person at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
Charles Fox
ADDS NAME OF DETAINED PERSON Law enforcement officers detain Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, N.J., outside the Chautauqua Institution, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y.. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by Matar who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture at the institute in western New York. (Charles Fox via AP)
UGC
ADDS NAME OF DETAINED PERSON This still image from video shows Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, N.J., at left, being escorted from the stage as people tend to author Salman Rushdie, center right, at the Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by Matar who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. (AP Photo)
UGC
ADDS NAME OF DETAINED PERSON This still image from video shows Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, N.J., at left, being escorted from the stage as people tend to author Salman Rushdie, center right, at the Chautauqua Institution, in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck Friday by Matar who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. (AP Photo)
Ted Shaffrey
Local police and FBI block the area around the home of Hadi Matar on Morningside Avenue, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Fairview, N.J. Matar rushed a stage and stabbed Salman Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" drew death threats from Iran in the 1980s, as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York earlier today. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
Joshua Goodman
People gather at an evening vigil pray and observe a moment of silence after an attack on author Salman Rushdie, Friday Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y. Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" drew death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed as he was about to give a lecture in western New York earlier today. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman)
Joshua Goodman
People gather at an evening vigil for author Salman Rushdie after was attacked, Friday Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y. Rushdie, whose novel "The Satanic Verses" drew death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was stabbed as he was about to give a lecture in western New York earlier today. (AP Photo/Joshua Goodman)
Vahid Salemi
People scan publications at a news stand in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. Salman Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Vahid Salemi
The front pages of the Aug. 13 edition of the Iranian newspapers, Vatan-e Emrooz, front, with title reading in Farsi: "Knife in the neck of Salman Rushdie," and Hamshahri, rear, with title: "Attack on writer of Satanic Verses," are pictured in Tehran Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. Rushdie, whose novel “The Satanic Verses” drew death threats from Iran’s leader in the 1980s, was stabbed in the neck and abdomen Friday by a man who rushed the stage as the author was about to give a lecture in western New York. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
NEW YORK (AP) — Salman Rushdie’s agent says the author has lost sight in one eye and the use of a hand as he recovers from an attack from a man who rushed the stage at an August literary event in western New York, according to a published report.
Literary agent Andrew Wylie told the Spanish language newspaper El Pais in an article published Saturday that Rushdie suffered three serious wounds to his neck and 15 more wounds to his chest and torso in the attack that took away sight in an eye and left a hand incapacitated.
Rushdie, 75, spent years in hiding after Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 edict, a fatwa, calling for his death after publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Over the past two decades, Rushdie has traveled freely.
Hadi Matar, 24, of Fairview, New Jersey, has been incarcerated after pleading not guilty to attempted murder and assault in the Aug. 12 attack on Rushdie as he was being introduced at the Chautauqua Institution, a rurally located center 55 miles (89 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo that is known for its summertime lecture series.
