A VETERAN bull fighter has been left with horrific injuries after being gored through the leg in his first fight of the year.
Serafin Marin, 42, suffered a 30cm deep goring through his leg on Sunday, when he was impaled by a bull at Spain‘s largest bullring in Madrid.
Dr Riveiro CeladaSpanish matador Serafin Marin was brutally gored on Sunday[/caption]
Dr Riveiro CeladaThe bull left the fighter with a 30cm wound to his upper leg[/caption]
Dr Riveiro CeladaAfter being lifted up by the bull Marin was slammed to the ground, face down and bloody[/caption]
In terrifying footage captured by the audience, Marin had just completed a veronica pass – where the bull fighter moves the cape slowly from one side of the body to the other with both hands – when he was hoisted into the air by the bull’s horn.
After becoming airborne, Marin was then thrown to the ground and four other bullfighters stepped into the ring to distract the animal.
Marin later said he “didn’t realise” he’d been gored until he entered the infirmary.
“I was really stunned and dizzy from the blow to the head,” he said.
“I was bleeding a lot.”
He added that he had been “caught completely off guard and unable to react”.
Marin, a long-time bullfighter, was the last matador to face a bull in his home Catalonia.
Catalonia was the first Spanish region to ban bull fighting in 2012.
Sunday was the first pass of Marin’s season when he was gored.
He said he had been preparing for the bullfight all year, but will now “have to wait another year so the fans can see that I still have a lot to say in bullfighting”.
The matador has since seen the footage of the ordeal, where El Pais reported the bull “directed its gaze toward the bullfighter’s groin”.
He landed face down and bloodied, when his colleagues jumped in to assist him.
One Spanish outlet reported he “got up with the strap of his bag torn and blood pouring from his temple”.
Marin had collapsed before he was taken to the infirmary for treatment, where a medical report found the bull’s horn had torn through the outside of his right thigh.
He was operated on locally before being transported to the Fraternidad Muprespa-Habana Hospital in Chamartín.
Marin said the incident had left him in “a lot of pain”.
Every year, thousands of bulls are killed in events across Europe.
The animals are chased and tormented, before being stabbed multiple times.
The ordeal is ended when a matador kills the animal by plunging a knife into its lungs.
Two days before the incident, activists from PETA France were arrested during an opening bullfight in Feria des Vendanges.
The activists had stormed the arena in protest of the tradition.
PETA FranceFrench content creator Jermstar was among the activists arrested[/caption]
One activist, content creator Jermstar, held a sign reading “f–k the bullfight” during the protest.
He was violently pushed to the ground and dragged out of the arena by several men.
According to PETA, one protester’s foot was broken in the scuffle.
The three activists were held in custody from Friday night.
Jermstar said he “wanted to take part in this action alongside PETA because watching images of bulls being tortured to death during bullfights shocked [him]”.
[It] should chill the blood of anyone with a modicum of empathy,” he said.
“There is no justification for stabbing terrified animals or applauding as they slowly die in the ring,” he continued.
“That’s torture, not culture.”
Marin’s goring comes after the tragic death of a 22-year-old bull fighter in August.
Manuel Maria Trindade – who had been described as a rising star bull fighter – was killed by a 700kg bull in front of thousands of people.
In a split second, Trindade attempted to grab the bull’s horn, however was thrown into the air and slammed into the arena’s wall.
The horrific footage captured the audience screaming in horror as the young matador was left on the floor.
Other bullfighters managed to bring the animal under control while paramedics tended to Trindade.
Despite being able to initially stabilise his condition, Trindade later died from the severe injuries he had suffered to his head.
FacebookManuel Maria Trindade was just 22 years old when he was tragically killed by a bull[/caption]
FacebookHe was considered a ‘rising star’ matador before his death[/caption]