Salman Rushdie moderator Henry Reese reveals black eye and knife wound from attack on author

Henry Reese downplays his injuries and says focus should remain on the critically injured author

The moderator who tried to defend Salman Rushdie as he was viciously attacked at a literary event has revealed the extent of his injuries.

Henry Reese, 73, sustained a knife wound and a badly bruised right eye while holding down the legs of the attacker who leapt on stage at the Chautauqua Institution last Friday.

Speaking to BBC News, Mr Reese downplayed his condition and said the focus should remain on Mr Rushdie, who remains in hospital as he recovers from “life changing” injuries.

“I’m doing quite well and I think our concern is for Salman. And I mean that both certainly for himself, but also for what he means to the world.” Mr Reese told BBC News.

“To see Salman Rushdie assaulted for his life is unimaginably... it’s hard to describe what it is to see that happen in front of you.”

Mr Reese founded City of Asylum, a non-profit which provides support and sanctuary to persecuted writers.

He had only just sat down to begin speaking with Mr Rushdie when a man identified by authorities as 24-year-old New Jersey man Hadi Matar mounted the stage and stabbed Mr Rushdie 10 times in the neck and abdomen.

Henry Reese suffered a stab wound and black eye while trying to defend Salman Rushdie (BBC News)

Mr Rushdie, who was the target of a fatwa by the Iranian supreme leader over his book The Satanic Verses, suffered damage to his liver and severed nerves in an arm and may lose an eye. 

Mr Reese told BBC News that he hoped to return to the Chautauqua Institution to continue his conversation with Mr Rushdie.

“That would be my ideal to do that and to see that happen and to not be in any way impeded from doing what we set out to do.”

Mr Reese, who was released from hospital on Sunday, described the attack in an interview with The Atlantic as a “bold attack against the core values of freedom”.

“It’s given a very visceral, momentary connection to me personally, and certainly to Salman, it’s probably never gone away in the back of his mind—but now it’s caught permanently, in a physical way.”

Mr Matar has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault.