A Portuguese matador was rushed to hospital after being gored through the back by a bull during a bullfight in Toledo, Spain.
Disturbing footage from the 25th Golden Potter competition in Villaseca de la Sagra on Thursday showed Joao D’Alva thrown into the air on the bull’s right horn.
After striding slowly around the arena with a red muleta cape, the bull charged, lifting D’Alva up before dropping him to writhe around in pain on the sandy ground.
The 25-year-old was reportedly treated for a goring in the right lumbosacral region of his back, near the base of the spine, suffering ruptured paravertebral muscles.
The goring was 20 centimetres (8 inch) long and 10 centimetres (4 inch) deep, with an entry and exit wound, according to Toledo Hospital.
He was treated for necropsy and hemostasis control before being rushed to the University Hospital of Toledo.
Local media reported that D’Alva was ‘about to prepare the kill’ when he was gored ‘in a spectacular manner’.
Assistants were seen rushing in to distract the bull and pull D’Alva out of the bullring. He was ‘visibly weakened’ and clearly in pain at the on site infirmary, reports said.
It comes just weeks after another Portuguese bullfighter was killed a 1,500lb bull in Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno.
The matador is seen with the bull moments before it charged
D’Alva was thrown up into the air and gored through the back, requiring surgery
At hospital, D’Alva underwent surgery for the wound to the lumbar region of his back.
D’Alva is seemingly expected to return to the bullring, according to bullfighting outlet Touro e Ouro.
The incident occurred during the first bull-calf of the afternoon.
D’Alva shared numerous messages of support and well wishing on social media this afternoon. He did not provide an update on his condition.
It comes just weeks after a Portuguese bullfighter was killed a 1,500lb bull in Lisbon’s Campo Pequeno.
Within seconds of the August 23 show beginning, the animal hoisted Trindade up with its horns and rammed him against a wall, causing severe brain damage.
Footage showed Trindade running towards the enormous bull to provoke it into charging.
It then ran towards him, and he attempted to grab onto its horns and gain control.
The 25-year-old was taken to the on site infirmary and hospital
In disturbing footage he could be seen writhing on the ground after the goring
Trindade was thrown up into the air by the storming bull and thrown against the wall of the arena. He later died.
A 73-year-old spectator watching the horror unfold from the audience fell ill during the show and was transported to hospital where he also died.
Numerous people have also been injured in Spain during ‘running of the bulls’ events, where people watch from the sidelines as agitated bulls charge through the streets.
At an event in La Vall d’Uixó, north-east of Valencia, last autumn, a man was horrifically gored in the scrotum by one of the running bulls.
The bull had just been released from its pen when it charged towards the man, who was identified only by the initials F.M.N.
Before he had a chance to react, the bull picked him up with one of its horns from the other side of a metal barrier.
The man was then held in the air for several seconds before the bull dumped him on the ground in front of shocked onlookers.
An onsite medical team, as well as two doctors who were there as spectators, gave the man first aid.
A 20-year-old man was also killed during a bull-running festival in El Casar in the province of Castilla-La Mancha last September.
Trindade was thrown up into the air by the storming bull and thrown against the wall of the arena. He later died
In a matter of seconds Trindade was hoisted up into the air by the storming bull and thrown against the wall of the arena
Trindade was a young but celebrated forcado – the name of a kind of Portuguese fighter who deliberately provokes a bull into charging
The unnamed victim suffered a punctured lung when the animal ran at him and drove its horn into his chest.
The incidents followed the death of a 57-year-old man in hospital in May last year, seven weeks after he was gored twice during a bullfight in Vall d’Uixó.
In September 2023, a high-ranking executive for Spanish ceramic wall and floor tiles firm Pamesa was gored to death by a bull at a festival near Valencia.
Jose Antonio Subies, 61, died at a hospital in the city after suffering gore injuries which affected his liver and one of his lungs.
He was the chief executive officer of Pamesa’s South American group.
