Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Author Salman Rushdie lost sight in one eye and the use of one hand during a brutal stabbing attack in August, his agent said.
Andrew Wylie told Spain's El Pais newspaper on Sunday that Rushdie, one of his many star literary clients, had sustained "profound" wounds the morning of Aug. 12 when he was attacked on stage as he was about to give a lecture at New York's Chautauqua Institution.
"He had three serious wounds in his neck. One hand is incapacitated because the nerves in his arm were cut. And he has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso," Wylie said, adding that Rushdie also lost the sight in one eye.
Asked if Rushdie, 74, was still hospitalized, Wylie said he couldn't divulge his whereabouts.
"He's going to live," he said. "That's the important thing."
Police identified his attacker as Hadi Matar, 24, who has been charged with attempted murder.
The attack comes decades after Iran's then-spiritual leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini ordered Rushdie's murder over the publication of his award-winning 1988 novel "The Satanic Verses" on the grounds that it was blasphemous to Islam.
The Indian-born author spent years in hiding and under police protection after the fatwa was issued.
Wylie told El Pais that he believes he had talked with Rushdie about the possibility of being the target of an attack by a random person.
"You can't protect against that because it's totally unexpected and illogical," he said. "It was like John Lennon's murder."
