A renowned matador got a little too close for comfort during a bullfighting match in Spain on Monday and suffered an embarrassing injury that required an immediate evacuation in front of thousands of horrified spectators.
Morante de la Puebla, best known as the “King of Bullfighters,” was gored up his rectum during a performance gone wrong at the packed Maestranza arena in Seville, Spain, on Monday, local outlet El Mundo reported.
Puebla, 46, easily cleared the first three bulls, just as he had hundreds of times before. The fourth, though, bested him.
The daring bull situated itself near the arena’s irrigation ditch, a shallow cavity where the beast has a rare upper hand against the tantalizing matadors.
Then, the bull charged. Puebla attempted to sidestep, but ran into trouble.
He abandoned his cape, which is typically used to draw the bull, and made a break for it.
The bull wasn’t about to let him go so easily. While Puebla bolted with his back to the bull, the bovine rushed at him again — and plowed the tip of its curved horn right into the matador’s rectum.
The penetration perforated Puebla’s rectum and left 4-inch injury, the outlet reported. Puebla was seen staggering away while clinging to his bottom and was eventually carried off the pitch by four other matadors.
He underwent an hours-long surgical procedure at a nearby medical center, whose staff confirmed that his rectum was completely severed. He required extensive repair to the rectal wall and sphincter apparatus, the outlet reported.
It’s not immediately clear when, or if, Puebla will return to the ring.
