Emil A. Naclerio (March 21, 1915 – October 14, 1985) was an American doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt.

Attempted assassination of MLK

Izola Curry Izola Curry ( Ware; June 14, 1916 – March 7, 2015) was an African-American woman who attempted to assassinate the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. She stabbed King with a letter opener at a Harlem book signing on September 20, 1958, ...

stabbed the reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in the chest with a letter opener on September 20, 1958, at book-signing in a

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

department store. NYPD police officers Al Howard and Phil Romano took King in the chair down to an ambulance that took King to

Harlem Hospital Harlem Hospital Center, branded as NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, is a 272-bed, public teaching hospital affiliated with Columbia University. It is located at 506 Lenox Avenue in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City and was founded in 1887. The hos ...

, and its top team of trauma surgeons, Dr.

John W. V. Cordice, Jr. John Walter Vincent Cordice, Jr. (June 16, 1919 – December 29, 2013) was an American doctor and surgeon who is most notable for operating on Martin Luther King Jr. to save his life after a 1958 assassination attempt. Early life Cordice was born ...

, Dr. Emil Naclerio, Farrow Allen, and Aubré de Lambert Maynard were called in to operate. Emil Naclerio had been attending a wedding and arrived still in a tuxedo. They made incisions and inserted a

rib spreader A rib spreader, also known as Finochietto retractor, is a type of retractor specifically designed to separate ribs in thoracic surgery. Rack-and-pinion-type stainless steel rib spreaders (with a thumb-screw to lock it in place) were an innovation ...

, making King’s

aorta The aorta ( ) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the left ventricle of the heart and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits into two smaller arteries (the common iliac arteries). The aorta distributes ...

visible. Chief of Surgery Maynard then entered and attempted to pull out the letter opener, but cut his glove on the blade; a surgical clamp was finally used to pull out the blade. Cordice mapped out a strategy and successfully saved Dr. King. He was the subject of the book ''When Harlem Nearly Killed King: The 1958 Stabbing of Dr. Martin Luther King'', by Hugh Pearson.

Personal life

His son, Ron Naclerio is an author and all time winningest coach for the PSAL league.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naclerio, Emil 1915 births 1985 deaths Physicians from New York (state)