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Family: Man Stabbed in Hanukkah Attack Near NYC May Have Sustained Brain
Damage

Associated Press

   NEW YORK - A man wounded in the Hanukkah stabbings north of New York
   City may have permanent brain damage and be partially paralyzed for the
   rest of his life, his family said.
   The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council released a statement from
   the family of Josef Neumann, 71, and a graphic photograph Wednesday
   showing severe head injuries he received Saturday at a rabbi's home in
   Monsey, New York.
   Four other people were injured in the attack, which federal prosecutors
   say was a hate crime.
   The photograph shows an intubated Neumann with a swollen and disfigured
   face lying in a hospital bed. A gash to his head appears to have been
   stitched up.
   Neumann's family released the photograph for the world and "the Jewish
   community to understand the gravity of hate," Yossi Gestetner, the
   council's co-founder, said in an interview. Neumann has seven children.
   "These things are vividly and viciously disturbing and have long-term
   consequences," Gestetner said.
   The 18-inch machete used in the attack penetrated Neumann's skull, the
   statement said, adding that Neumann's "right arm has been shattered."
   "Our father's status is so dire that no surgery has yet been performed
   on the right arm," the statement said. "Doctors are not optimistic
   about his chances to regain consciousness, and 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."
   The statement also called on Jewish people around the world to share
   their own experiences with anti-Semitism on social media using the
   hashtag (hash)MeJew.
   "We shall not let this terrible hate-driven attack be forgotten," the
   statement said, "and let us all work to eradicate all sorts of hate."

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