Matador gored through neck in very first bullfight

Posted by Abbie Anker on Saturday, May 18, 2024

A young bullfighter is fighting for his life after being gored through the throat, face and tongue after his debut tournament went horribly wrong.

Daniel García Navarrete, 23, was pierced several times in Spain’s biggest arena, Las Ventas in Madrid.

The attack was witnessed by the horrified 10,000-strong crowd, who originally thought he had been struck once in the thigh.

After he was rushed to the hospital in serious condition, doctors revealed that he had been pierced four times, twice in the neck and twice through his jaw.

One of the wounds was 20 centimeters (7¾ inches) deep while the other of 15 centimeters (6 inches) penetrated the roof of his mouth and base of his tongue. The wounds also severed sciatic nerves, fractured a collarbone and caused extensive muscle damage.

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The young bullfighter, who was making his debut, also suffered extensive cuts and bruises.

He was treated first at the infirmary’s bullring, and was said to be lucky to have even survived. Surgeons at the Hospital San Francisco of Assisi who performed an emergency operation said his prognosis was “severe.”

Shocked spectators described the scene as “horrific” and thought he was going to be killed by the 1,000-pound bull.

One member of the crowd said: “There was blood on his neck and a hole in his thigh. The bull was literally shaking him about like a rag doll.”

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