- Bull's horn penetrates 15 cm into Miguel Angel Perera's groin, ripping the femoral artery
- The crowd in Madrid gives Angel Perera a standing ovation
Note the tourniquet on the matador's right thigh, in that lower shot. He is actually standing and waving to the crowd after his ordeal.
I haven't learned what happened to the bull afterward, but this being Spain, I can imagine.
Bullfight fan sites like Tauromaquia have been posting updates about Angel Perera's condition, which is said to be muy grave (very serious). The matador underwent four operations at the Virgin del Mar clinic, in Madrid, with reporters interviewing him at his bedside. In an October 20 interview, Angel Perera reassured fans that he would return to the ring soon.
Yeah, right. (Look again at that first photo.)
On October 28, the organizers of the Lima Señor de los Milagros Bullfighting Festival announced the inevitable: Angel Perera will not fight in Peru next month, on his doctor's recommendation. The matador's injuries are so serious, he is cancelling all upcoming engagements.
Here is the press release in Spanish:
I shared the information with El Fotógrafo, who groaned reflexively when he saw the accident shots.
"The poor guy," I said, doing my best, despite my lack of testicles, to empathize with the man's injuries. "Aren't these photos horrible."
EF scowled and straightened up: "Well," he said, coolly. "He's a matador. What did he expect?"
He quickly left the room.
Evidently, some photos can hit too close to home.
Update, May 31, 2009: Huffington Post and other sources are reporting on Spanish matador Israel Lancho's gruesome goring in the ring this last Wednesday. Photos, video -- the works. I find this sudden interest in bullfighting intriguing. Traditional U.S. media outlets don't cover bullfighting, and when I wrote about it for the Miami Herald last November, my story was edited to emphasize the protestors' point of view. But, as people who follow bullfighting know, professional bullfighters are routinely gored in the ring; it's part of the job. Between 80 and 100 such gorings take place each season. Suddenly this is news in the HP? Perhaps American and British audiences are growing weary of tame "Britain's Got Talent" competition and are growing hungry for real bloodsport.
9 responses so far ↓
1 suddenly susan // Nov 2, 2008 at 3:00 am
holy cajones! that looks really painful and i’m not even a guy. i hope the matador recovers quickly.
i’ve never been to peru (or south america) and i’m enjoying your observations. looking forward to reading your account of the bullfights.
2 Barb // Nov 3, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Holy cajones is right! I don’t know what the torero’s prognosis is, but given that he’s had four surgeries and isn’t being allow to fight — it sounds serious.
I enjoyed reading your descriptions of your first bullfight in Spain — you must have been keeping very good notes during the events. I felt many similar things — it was horrible but fascinating. In the end I couldn’t really understand why people become obsessed with bullfighting — it got tedious after a while. El Fotografo admires the skill of the toreros but got grossed out by the blood and made me leave halfway throughout.
We were given access to the callejon — the outer ring between the arena and the seats. The bulls were coming right at us, with only a wooden fence between. It was scary to view events at the ground level.
I will post about it after I finish the article I’m writing for an American newspaper. (I feel guilty even for posting this, since I’m on deadline!)
3 breanna // Nov 6, 2008 at 12:52 pm
i think bull fights r wong and curel
4 trevor // Nov 10, 2008 at 1:35 pm
bullfighting is cruel and such a stupid “art” it would be less torture to the animal to send it to a slaughter house and watch that
5 Barb // Nov 10, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Trevor, what happens in the bullring is certainly cruel to the bull, as you note.
However, animals suffer horrendously in slaughterhouses too. There are many web sites devoted to this issue — you can find lots of information online. (In contrast, the traditional kosher method of killing an animal is said to be more humane. )
Equally as horrible, most of the animals who are killed for meat each year live in awful conditions, in tiny cramped cages or pens, in their own excrement. Many never see the sun. I think that suffering is probably the worst.
In contrast, the bulls who are killed in bullrings live for five years on farms where they are free to roam and exercise. That doesn’t make their deaths in the ring any less painful, but it does mean that they have five years of mobility in contrast with the animals killed in slaughterhouses.
6 Dave // Jan 15, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Just an observation. I was able to attend a bull fight this past December when my wife and I flew to Arequipa for vacation. The difference was that the fight was between two bulls. A few bulls were gored and I have heard that on occasion a bull will lose a horn. No testicles were harmed during this fight and the only thing that the losing bull lost was its pride (if that is possible). The fights seem much less cruel this way.
7 Barb // Jan 18, 2009 at 3:56 pm
The Arequipa style of bullfighting is an intriguing twist on the Spanish tradition. I didn’t know that there were any variations in Peru. (But then again, Arequipa always does things differently than the rest of Peru.)
From your description, it appears that the bulls did not kill each other. Or did they?
8 Nara // Jan 31, 2009 at 7:03 am
I hate U miguel angel perera!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!u very cruel!!!!!!!!!!!!!manyak
9 artie // Jan 31, 2009 at 5:40 pm
You know Nara I agree that bull fighting is very cruel but hate is such a strong word you should not hate someone for doing there work.