Author Salman Rushdie on Ventilator After Onstage Stabbing

Details about Salman RushdieHis condition was revealed after he was stabbed on stage.

Author’s Agent, Andrew Wileytold New York Times On August 12, Rushdie was on a ventilator and unable to speak.

“The news is bad,” the agent said. “Salman is likely to lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

Rushdie, 75, took the stage during an event for the Chautauqua Institute in New York on August 12. Shortly after his arrival, a 24-year-old man allegedly jumped on stage and stabbed the novelist at least once in the neck and once in the stomach, according to Major Evgeny Yu. Stanishevskyi with in New York State Police speaking at a news conference on August 12.

Several employees and bystanders tackled the suspect to the ground and an officer took him into custody, police said.

Rushdie, who was married to Padma Lakshmi from 2004 to 2007 was airlifted to an emergency room and underwent surgery, according to police.