Sir Salman Rushdie has spoken in chilling detail to the BBC about what he remembers of the attack two years ago, in which he was stabbed on stage.
The Booker Prize-winning author said his eye was left hanging down his face "like a soft-boiled egg", and that losing the eye "upsets him every day".
"I remember thinking I was dying," he said. "Fortunately, I was wrong."
Sir Salman said he is using his new book, Knife, as a way of fighting back against what happened.
Sir Salman, who was born to non-practising Muslims and is an atheist, has long been a vocal advocate for the freedom of expression.
But he warned it has become "much more difficult".
"A lot of people, including a lot of young people, I'm sorry to say, have formed the opinion that restrictions on freedom of speech are often a good idea," he said.
"Whereas of course, the whole point of freedom of speech is that you have to permit speech you don't agree with."
The attack took place at an education institute in New York state in August 2022, as he was preparing to give a lecture.
He recalled how the assailant came "sprinting up the stairs" and stabbed him 12 times, including in his neck and abdomen, in an attack lasting 27 seconds.
"I couldn't have fought him," the author said. "I couldn't have run away from him."
Sir Salman said he fell to the floor, where he lay with "a spectacular quantity of blood" all around him.
He was taken to a hospital by helicopter and spent six weeks recovering there.
The Indian-born British-American author, 76, is one of the most influential writers of modern times. The attack dominated news headlines across the world.
Sir Salman previously spent several years in hiding after the 1988 publication of The Satanic Verses triggered threats against his life.
He admitted he had thought someone might "jump out of an audience" one day. "Clearly it would've been absurd for it not to cross my mind."
Post time 18-4-2024 11:35 AM
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