Matador suffers a ripped testicle when he ...

29.05.2020 04:19

A Spanish bullfighter has suffered an 'eviscerated testicle' after being gored in the groin during Madrid's annual bullfighting fiesta.

Marco Galan had just speared the bull in the back of the neck with two bandarillas - barbed spears - during a fight on Sunday when the enraged animal caught him in the crotch with its left horn.

Galan admitted that the accident 'wasn't my greatest moment', adding that the force was enough to tear his scrotum open, leaving him bleeding profusely from the groin.

Eye-watering footage of the incident shows Galan leaping into the air to pierce the bull's spine with the bandarillas, before being gored.

Other bullfighters attempt to distract the animal to allow Galan time to escape, but instead the bull hooks its horn through Galan's jacket, dragging him along the floor.

Eventually it turns its attention elsewhere and Galan is able to crawl away, and even manage to walk himself to the infirmary before being taken to hospital.

Speaking to The Local, he said: 'I placed the bandarillas well, but then it went a bit wrong and then I was on the horns of the bull.

'It was over very quickly and I got away. These things happen when you go in the ring. But bad things can also happen just walking down the street.

'Thanks to God that I was spared. I feel very lucky. I love Las Ventas in Madrid, it’s my favourite bullring, but on Sunday it just didn’t go my way.'

Galan is still recovering in hospital, but said he hopes to be well enough to compete in another fight scheduled for next month in France.

The goring happened during the San Isidro bullfighting festival in Madrid, once described by Ernest Hemmingway as the 'world series of bullfighting'.

The fiesta, named after the town's patron Saint, runs between May 15 and June 15 and features a bullfight every day.

The events take place at the Plaza de Toros, a 25,000-seat stadium in the city's Guindalera quarter.

Galan is not the first casualty of this year's festival, as another fighter, Jimenez Fortes, was left in critical condition after being gored in the neck during one fight.

Last year, during the same fiesta in Madrid, a day of bullfighting had to be cancelled after all three matadors were badly gored, leaving nobody to kill the bulls.

Bullfights take place in three stages, with the first stage involving picadores mounted on horses with lances who will get the bull to charge, before placing lances into its back.

The second, involves bandarillas - such as Galan - who again pierce the bull between the shoulders using barbed lances.

The final part, the 'third of death', sees the matador try and kill the bull with a sword while getting it to repeatedly charge at a flag.

The crowd will expect a high level of flair from the performer, and quick kills, or killing blows which lack appropriate skill, are often booed.

(dailymail.co.uk)