Saif Ali Khan attack: Knife wound in back has chances of infection; visitors restricted today, say doctors

Mumbai: Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan, undergoing treatment at a Mumbai hospital after suffering injuries in a knife attack at home, is doing "very well" and expected to be discharged in two to three days, doctors said on Friday. The 54-year-old actor, who received multiple stab injuries, including in his neck, underwent an emergency surgery at the Lilavati Hospital where he was taken after the brutal attack in his apartment in upscale Bandra by an intruder on early Thursday.

"We are observing his progress and he is doing excellently well according to our expectations. As per his progress, we have advised him bed rest and if he is comfortable, then in two to three days we will discharge him," said Dr Nitin Dange, neurosurgeon at Lilavati Hospital. He said a team of doctors checked on him and made him walk.

The actor is fit to be moved out of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and "we are shifting him to a special room," informed the neurosurgeon, who led the team of doctors who operated on Khan on Thursday.

"Khan had three injuries, two on the hand and one on the right side of the neck. And the major part was at the back, which was in the spine, thoracic spine we call. A sharp object was lodged inside, which has gone very deep, touching the dura and the spinal cord, but it has not damaged the spinal cord," Dr Dange said. Doctors have removed the sharp object and done repairing of the spinal injury, he explained. "He is very lucky. We repaired the leaking spinal fluid and the dura which was there. We had to do a repair, which was successful," Dr Dange added.

"Today when we made him walk, he was completely okay to walk. He is on a regular diet and that's why we have taken a decision to shift him from the ICU to a normal special room. He has been advised bed rest in view of the deeper injury to the spine. Today we will be restricting visitors as we want Khan to rest," he maintained.

The entire family - Khan, his wife and fellow star Kareena Kapoor, and their two sons, four-year-old Jeh and eight-year-old Taimur - were home in the 12th floor apartment in 'Satguru Sharan' building along with their five house helps at the time of the attack. In a statement to the police, Jeh's nanny Eliyama Philip, who first encountered the armed attacker, said he asked for Rs 1 crore.

The intruder did not force his entry or break into the actor's flat but possibly sneaked in at some point during the night with the intention of robbery, police officials said. Philip told the police she was sleeping on the floor in Jeh's room and woke up around 2 am when she heard a sound and saw a man move towards the sleeping child. Panicked, she rushed to pick him up and was pushed away by the man, armed with a wooden stick and a long Hexa blade. Khan, who was awarded a Padma Shri in 2010, was taken to the hospital in Bandra an autorickshaw.