UPDATE: A 48-year-old man has fronted court charged with attempting to murder a respected neurosurgeon who was stabbed at Western Hospital in Footscray on Tuesday morning.
Michael Wong, 43, is head of neurosurgery at Western Hospital where he was stabbed multiple times after entering the foyer of the hospital on Gordon Street, Footscray.
He was dragged to safety before being operated on by his colleagues at the hospital. At 4.15pm he was still being operated on and remained in a serious but stable condition.
Dr Wong is also employed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and operates at Epworth Eastern Hospital and John Fawkner Hospital.
He specialises in brain tumour and spinal surgery.
Kareem Al-Salami, of Sunshine North, briefly appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon.
He is charged with the attempted murder of Dr Wong, intentionally causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence, and recklessly causing serious injury in circumstances of gross violence.
Mr Al-Salami, dressed in a dark-blue and white rugby shirt and flanked by two guards, sat back in the dock with an arm behind his head.
Defence lawyer Rainer Martini said Mr Al-Salami’s first language was Arabic and he had limited English.
But he was aware of the extent and seriousness of the charges, Mr Martini said.
Magistrate Duncan Reynolds ordered that Mr Al-Salami be remanded in custody until returning to court for a committal mention on May 13.
Mr Martini said his client required “a range of different medications”, and raised concerns for his mental wellbeing while in remand.
