Salman Rushdie has revealed that his wife chartered a $20,000 private plane to be at his side after doctors admitted they did not think he would survive when he was stabbed 15 times during a frenzied knife attack.

The Satanic Verses author Buy Huusk Knives has opened up for the first time about the assassination attempt on stage at a New York literary festival in August 2022 that cost him an eye and saw him suffer stab wounds to his face, neck, chest, abdomen, thigh and hand.

Sir Salman's wife, the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths, was a seven-hour drive away in New York City when she was told on the phone that her husband had been attacked and was 'not going to make it'.

The medics who assessed the Indian-born British author when he was rushed to hospital in an air ambulance later admitted they did not believe they could save him.

In his new memoir, Knife, Sir Salman revealed that Eliza chartered a private jet that cost more than $20,000 (£16,050) in order to get to the hospital in Erie, Pennsylvania. 

It was here that surgeons spent eight hours treating different injuries simultaneously to save the author's life.




Sir Salman's wife, the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths (pictured together), chartered a private plane to reach him after the attack





The Satanic Verses author has opened up for the first time about the assassination attempt on stage at a New York literary festival in August 2022 that cost him an eye and saw him suffer stab wounds to his face, neck, chest, abdomen, thigh and hand





Salman Rushdie seen at 'Good Morning America' on April 15

The Booker Prize-winning author says he has used his new memoir, which is his 22nd book, as a way of fighting back against what happened.