George Harrison's two biggest passions saved his life during crazed knife attack

29 September 2023 , 15:48

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George and Olivia (Image: PA)

When George Harrison was the victim of a frenzied knife attack, he was saved by some paper with song lyrics on, his wife Olivia says.

She said the notes, which were in a pocket in front of his heart, were folded thick enough to protect the organ during the stabbing. The couple were attacked at their home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxon, in 1999 by intruder Michael Abram. Beatles legend George was stabbed dozens of times including to the chest.

Olivia tells a Radio 3 show being aired on Sunday: “He had notes in a pocket right over his heart and he had them folded. You can only fold paper so many times. He had them folded and stuck in the pocket and it’s what saved him... Gardening notes and lyrics were his passions and they saved his life.”

Michael Abram (PA)

George onstage in 1992 (Mirrorpix)

She also talks about attacking the knifeman with a lamp to defend George, even though she believed violence is unjustifiable. Author Olivia, 75, tells the Private Passions show: “I had to react. I would not be talking to you now [if I hadn’t]. In the brutality of that knife attack was also the fact you have to renounce what you believe and fight back.

“That is a moment you think, ‘Am I pacifist? Could I harm someone?'. You think ‘Never’ and suddenly you have to lay down that mantle. You have to put it aside. That is brutal.” On grounds of insanity, Abram was cleared of attempting to murder the couple. He was ordered to be detained at a secure hospital. Singer George died of lung cancer in 2001 aged 58.

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