Salman Rushdie, the author who was stabbed roughly 10 times on Friday, has been removed from a ventilator and is on the mend, his agent said Sunday.

“The road to recovery has begun,” Andrew Wylie said in a text. “It will be long; the injuries are severe, but his condition is headed in the right direction.”

Rushdie, who had spent decades under proscription by Iran, was attacked onstage minutes before he was to give a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.

On Sunday, Rushdie’s son Zafar Rushdie said his father remained in critical condition and was receiving extensive treatment. He said the author was able to speak a few words.

“Though his life-changing injuries are severe, his usual feisty and defiant sense of humour remains intact,” Zafar Rushdie said in a statement.

“We are so grateful to all the audience members who bravely leapt to his defence and administered first aid, along with the police and doctors who have cared for him and for the outpouring of love and support from around the world.”

Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old New Jersey resident, was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree attempted murder and assault with a weapon.

In court on Saturday, prosecutors said the attack on the author was premeditated and targeted. Matar travelled by bus to the intellectual retreat and bought a pass that allowed him to attend the talk Rushdie was to give on Friday morning, according to the prosecutors.

Nathaniel Barone, a public defender, entered a plea of not guilty on Matar’s behalf. Matar was held without bail.

(New York Times News Service)