'Profoundly traumatised': Author Hanif Kureishi hospitalised in Rome after injury

Hanif Kureishi, the British-Pakistani author of "The Buddha of Suburbia", a 1990 global hit, passed out in Rome and fears he might never be able to walk or write again. 

He shared in a tweet that he hasn't been able to move his arms or legs since the incident that happened a few days before the new year began.

The Oscar-nominated screenwriter and dramatist stated in a thread of tweets on Friday that he initially believed he was going to pass away following the fall.

"I believed I was dying. I believed I had three breaths left," he wrote describing the incident, adding that he realised he had lost coordination between his mind and body. "I had become divorced from myself."

The 68-year-old said he saw "Mo Salah score against Aston Villa" and sipped some bear after which he felt dizzy and passed out. He woke up "in a pool of blood" with his wife beside him.

"From the floor, my wife heard my frantic shouting. She saved my life and kept me calm. For a few days, I was profoundly traumatised, altered, and unrecognisable to myself. I am in the hospital. I cannot move my arms and legs," he said on the microblogging platform. 

Kureishi expressed disappointment at the fact that the surgery led to only "minor improvements" and he was unable to do the most basic things like scratching his nose and checking his mobile phone. However, he thanked the medical staff at Gemelli Hospital for their "extraordinary kindness, competence, and care."

Kureishi, who is the famed author of books like "My Son the Fanatic" and "The Last Word", said that he felt that "it seemed like a miserable and ignoble way to die". The author said he was worried that he might not be able to "hold a pen" in the future.

Ending his e-letter on a positive note, he reassured his followers that we would soon begin treatment and use "voice-assisted hardware and software" to continue life and "begin work again".

"If you have any ideas about how you might help, please comment below and my son will be in touch. I want to thank all my readers for their love and support over the years," he concluded.