George Harrison’s songs saved him from knifeman: Widow Olivia reveals ex-Beatle survived blade attack because he had lyrics stuffed in his top pocket
- George Harrison’s widow Olivia has revealed her reaction to stabbing in 1999
- Knifeman Michael Abram stabbed George in the chest but his notes saved him
The widow of ex-Beatle George Harrison has revealed how his songs saved his life as he was attacked by a knifeman, as he had reams of lyrics stuffed in his top pocket.
His wife Olivia Harrison said her husband’s songwriting notes, kept in his pocket in front of his heart, were folded so thickly that they protected the vital organ during a blade attack in 1999.
The Here Comes The Sun writer was attacked inside his home in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, by intruder Michael Abram, who stabbed The Beatles legend ten times in the chest.
Olivia Harrison with her late husband George Harrison – who died aged 58 in 2001
Olivia Harrison (pictured) said George’s songwriting notes, kept in his pocket in front of his heart, were folded so thickly that they protected the vital organ during a blade attack in 1999
Michael Abram (pictured) stabbed George Harrison ten times in the chest
Olivia, 75, told a Radio 3, in an show being broadcast tomorrow, that Harrison had ‘notes in a pocket right over his heart and he had them folded… and that’s what saved him’.
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She added that his passions of ‘gardening notes and lyrics… saved his life,’ The Mirror reports.
The widow of late Beatle George also said she tried to attack the knifeman with a lamp to defend her husband – despite her beliefs about violence not being justified.
Olivia told the Private Passions show that she ‘had to react’ – and that if she had not she would not be there now.
She said the ‘brutality’ of the knife attack made her face the fact she had to ‘renounce’ what she believed so she could fight back to save her and George’s lives.
Talking to the radio show, she said that in the moment she questioned herself, asking: ‘Am I a pacifist? Could I harm someone?’
Olivia said she thought the answer was ‘never’ but then you have the ‘lay down that mantle’ – she said it was ‘brutal’.
Abram was cleared of attempting to Murder Olivia and George Harrison on grounds of insanity.
A trial judge at Oxford Crown Court ordered that he should be detained at a secure hospital in November 2000.
Abram, who suffers from schizophrenia, was released from the hospital in 2002.
George Harrison died of lung cancer a year later in 2001 at the age of 58.
George Harrison was attacked inside his home (pictured) in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, by intruder Michael Abram, who stabbed The Beatles legend ten times in the chest
Intruder: A policeman is seen standing guard outside the entrance to Friar Park following the break-in in 1999
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