Em 1958 sobreviveu a um atentado em Nova Yorque. Martin Luther King refere-se assim ao acontecido: «Several years ago I was stabbed by a demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. I was operated on, my chest was opened and the blade was taken out. Four days later, they allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the world, kind letters came in. 

   I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. It came from a little girl. It said simply, "Dear Dr. King, I am a ninth-grade student at the Whites Plains High School. While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I’m simply writing you to say that I’m so happy that you didn’t sneeze." And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didn’t sneeze.»