Author Rupert Sheldrake, whose ideas about biology and consciousness sometimes spark controversy, was stabbed after giving a lecture in Santa Fe, NM, last week. He is currently recovering. Here is a local news article, and following is Mr. Sheldrake's own account of the events (continues after the jump)…

Every time my heart beat, a fountain of blood spurted from the wound in my thigh about four inches into the air. I was fortunate that several people from the audience with medical experience rapidly came to my assistance, including a nurse, doctor and paramedic. I lay down on the stage while they fastened a belt around my thigh as a tourniquet and pressed on my leg to reduce the flow of blood.

Suddenly I felt a violent blow on my left thigh, as if I had been punched. It was totally unexpected, and I did not see my assailant run towards me. He was rapidly pulled away. I looked down at my leg, and to my astonishment saw the handle of a dagger sticking out of my trousers. Without thinking, I pulled it out: the blade of the bloodstained weapon was about five inches long and an inch wide. I felt my trouser leg was wet with blood, and I pulled my trousers down.

A week ago, on the afternoon of Wednesday April 2, I was giving a talk to several hundred people at the International Science and Consciousness Conference in the ballroom of the La Fonda Hotel, in the centre of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After the talk ended at 3pm, I stepped down from the podium and was talking to people in a small group that had gathered around me.

Quite soon, a team of paramedics arrived, bandaged my wound, inserted an

intravenous drip and lifted me onto a stretcher (called a gurney in

America). When they carried me out into the street, blue lights were

flashing on police cars, and press photographers and TV cameramen soon had

me in their focus. I was driven in the ambulance to St Vincent Regional

Medical Center, and taken to the emergency room, where the staff examined my

wound. A few minutes later my old friend Larry Dossey walked in, having been

told of the attack. I was delighted to see him. He is not only a friend but

a doctor, and has seen many wounds from his time as a battalion surgeon in

Vietnam. Some policemen also arrived, and questioned me about the attack,

asked me to write a statement and photographed my leg and bloodstained

clothes.

The wound had stopped bleeding, but my thigh had swollen enormously. The

trauma surgeon, Dr Caesar Ursic, at first considered the possibility of

leaving the wound to heal without surgical intervention, but it continued to

swell, and he decided that it would be better to open up my leg to clean out

the wound and stop the internal bleeding. He offered me a choice, and I

asked Larry's advice. He was unhesitant – go for the operation. So I did.

The anaesthetist was very friendly, and after taking my medical details and

discussing the procedure, she told me about her dogs that know when she is

coming home as I was wheeled into the operating theatre.

My attacker was Japanese, and had arrived from Japan only a few days

beforehand. He had spoken to me the day before my lecture, telling me he was

hearing voices. He was obviously in distress. I later learned that he had

told several other people about the voices, and some had tried to help him.

But no one anticipated that he would turn violent, and neither I, nor anyone

else I know of, had any premonition of it. Although the report in USA Today

said that he was "disturbed" by my lecture, which was on the extended mind,

this was misleading; he was disturbed anyway. In any case, his English was

probably too poor to understand much of what I said. The fact that I was

speaking in the final session of the conference may have had more to do with

it – if he was going to do something spectacular, this was his last chance.

After stabbing me, he was rapidly brought to the floor by an Australian

rugby player, and was held down by several men until the police led him away

in handcuffs. While on the ground, he apparently said that the voices had

told him to attack me. He is now in Santa Fe jail awaiting trial. I feel no

anger towards him, but am pleased that he is locked away and unable to harm

anyone else.

When I regained consciousness I was lying on my back in a hospital bed with

tubes everwhere, but not in pain. A blood-filled drainage tube came out of a

hole in my leg, draining the wound. I had an intravenous line through which

I could administer morphine by pressing a button, but I never needed any

medication. Dr Ursic told me that he had removed a blood clot the size of a

tennis ball, sealed off several small arteries that were bleeding into my

muscles, and cleaned out the wound. He said that he was surprised by the

large amount of tissue damage, which reminded him of what he had read about

hari-kiri wounds, caused by twisting the blade. At the time, he did not know

that my assailant was Japanese. The dagger had caused a wound about five

inches deep and an inch wide, severing the tissue in my quadriceps muscle

but fortunately missing the femoral artery by about half an inch. He told

me it would probably be few days before I could begin to walk again, using a

walking frame.

The nursing staff were very helpful, and I had a stream of visitors,

including some of the conference staff, several conference participants,

some former students of mine and friends who live in Santa Fe. I also had

many comforting phone calls, first and foremost from my wife Jill, in

London. My room began to fill up with beautiful bunches of flowers,

including organic tulips, and baskets of fruit and other food. I was carried

along by a great surge of love and well-wishing, with messages pouring in

from around the world conveyed to me via Jill and via Larry and Barbara

Dossey. I learned that at the conference itself, immediately after the

stabbing, dozens of people formed a circle to pray for me. Other chanted in

a nearby church. My family and many friends around the world were praying

for me. Several of my visitors gave me various forms of healing, including

Reiki, and one of the nursing staff, who was also a practitioner of Healing

Touch, visited me at nights just before I went to sleep, leaving me feeling

as if I were floating like a feather.

On Friday Dr Ursic removed all my tubes, and with the help of the physical

training staff I ventured out of bed for the first time, moving a few yards

in a walker. On Saturday, for the first time, I began to put my weight on my

left leg and hobbled about a 100 yards with the frame. That evening I was

due to be speaking at an event in the Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe, part of an

election year "Festival of Optimistic Voices", organized by my old friend

Nina Wise. I felt strong enough to do it, and Dr Ursic arranged for me to be

able to leave the hospital for a few hours. I was taken to the theatre by

Larry and Barbara Dossey. I was the first speaker after the interval, and

after being introduced had to walk to the middle of the stage with my

walker, in front of several hundred people. The story of my stabbing had

been on the front page of the local newspaper, the New Mexican, and I was

given a very warm reception. I spoke on Science and Hope. (The video of my

talk should be online soon with a link from my web site, www.sheldrake.org)

I had expected to be using the walker for about a week, but on Sunday

morning Dr Ursic thought I might be able to graduate to a four-legged

walking stick (known in America as a quad cane). He was right. I was

discharged from the hospital soon afterwards, and came to stay with Larry

and Barbara Dossey in their beautiful house, amidst pine and juniper trees

in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The next day, as I was

walking around the house, I realized that I had forgotten my cane and was

walking without it. My left leg still feels clumsy, stiff and weak, and my

thigh is swollen, but my healing has been exceptionally fast and I have

experienced no pain throughout the whole process. I have also felt no fear,

and have indeed felt calm and happy, even blissful at times. I attribute all

this to my good fortune in having such a skillful surgeon in Caesar Ursic,

who in all my encounters with him was completely present and

trust-inspiring, excellent care at St Vincent's, the love and support of my

family and friends, the prayers of so many people, and the healings I have

received. I am also very fortunate to be able to recover at the home of

Larry and Barbara Dossey, which is like a sanctuary. They are looking after

me wonderfully well, and it is great fun being with them. As I said on

Saturday night at the Lensic Theatre, if you have to get stabbed, Santa Fe

is the best place for it to happen.

I am due to fly to Tucson tomorrow to attend the Toward a Science of

Consciousness Conference at the University of Arizona, where I am scheduled

to give a keynote address on Saturday morning, and I plan to fly home to

London on Monday. As usual I am not traveling with a computer, and will only

start to answer emails when I am home again. There are more than 2,000 in

my inbox, so if you have written to me, I apologize for the delay in

replying, and it may be a while before I can respond.

I am very grateful to all those people who have helped me here in Santa Fe,

and to all those at home and around the world who have been praying for me

and sending me their love and support. It has made all the difference.