The writer lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand in August, his literary agent has revealed
Salman Rushdie has been left with no vision in one eye and one of his hands is incapacitated since the “brutal attack” on him in August, the writer’s literary agent Andrew Wylie revealed in an interview with El Pais newspaper.
The Indian-born British-American writer was stabbed on August 12 at an education center in New York state as he was preparing to give a lecture in front of a packed audience.
Rushdie has been living under constant threat since 1989, when Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for the writer’s death over his novel ‘The Satanic Verses’. The fatwa, which is still viewed by many as active, forced the writer to spend years in hiding with round-the-clock police protection.
In an interview, published on Saturday, Wylie said Rushdie had around 15 wounds in his chest and torso, as well as “three serious wounds in his neck.”
“One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut,” the literary agent said.
He added that Rushdie had also “lost the sight of one eye” but emphasized that, most importantly, the author “is going to live.”
Wylie refused to say whether Rushdie is still in the hospital, explaining that he cannot reveal his client’s whereabouts.