Family of man stabbed in the head in the New York Hanukkah attack release a harrowing photo of him on a respirator in hospital as they say he may never regain consciousness
The family of a man who was stabbed in the head in a Hanukkah attack in New York has released a graphic photo of him unconscious in his hospital bed.
Josef Neumann was among the five people injured when Grafton Thomas, 37, allegedly stormed into a rabbi’s home in Monsey during a Hanukkah celebration last Saturday.
Neumann’s family say the knife used in the attack penetrated his skull and impacted his brain.
He also suffered three cuts to the head, a cut to his neck and his right arm was shattered.
The harrowing photo shows him unconscious and hooked up to a respiratory machine in his hospital bed.
Josef Neumann was among the five people injured in the Hanukkah stabbing attack in Monsey, New York last Saturday
Neumann’s family said on Tuesday that his condition is so severe that doctors had not yet been able to perform surgery on his arm.
‘Doctors are not optimistic about his chances to regain consciousness,’ his family said.
‘If our father does miraculously recover partially, doctors expect that he will have permanent damage to the brain; leaving him partially paralyzed and speech-impaired for the rest of his life.’
Neumann has seven children, multiple grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
According to a criminal complaint, Neumann was among those injured when the alleged attacker – with a scarf covering his face – entered the rabbi’s home next door to a synagogue and said ‘no one is leaving’.
Thomas then allegedly took out a machete and started stabbing and slashing people in the home packed with dozens of congregants.
The five victims suffered serious injuries – including a severed finger, slash wounds and deep lacerations.
Thomas has pleaded not guilty to charges including five counts of attempted murder.
He is also charged with federal hate crimes after authorities said they found his handwritten journals containing anti-Semitic references and that he had recently used his phone to look up information on Hitler and the location of synagogues.
Authorities say they discovered a blood-stained 18-inch machete and a knife smeared with dried blood and hair from Thomas’ car after the attack.
The stabbings, which occurred on the seventh night of Hanukkah, came amid a series of violent attacks targeting Jews in the region that have led to increased security, particularly around religious gatherings.