Mexican Matador Gored in the Neck During Fight

A matador in Mexico was gored through the neck by a bull, but the bullfighter later returned to slay the animal.

Arturo Macias, 35, was sent to the hospital after he was severely wounded by the bull in San Marco, according to The Independent.

The bull first knocked him over. As he lay in the dirt, the bull then kicked him and rolled him over.

The 1,000-pound beast then slammed its horns into his neck and chest area. Help then arrived and escorted him from the ground.

According to MailOnline, he was taken to a nearby infirmary, and doctors there told him that he would be risking his life if he went back and fought the bull. He ignored their advice and returned to finish it off before he was rushed to the hospital.

The bullfighting event was intended to raise money for the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that hit Mexico City in September, killing more than 300 people and causing millions of dollars in damage.

The matador said he knew he was risking his life to go back out there, but said that he didn’t want to let victims of the earthquake down.

The wound in his chest apparently allowed air inside, doctors stated.

He’s still in intensive care following an emergency operation.

Online, some users criticized the bullfighter as a “coward.”

“Couldn’t care less about the bull slaughtering coward, all my sympathies is with the bull,” said Yvette Jonsson, per The Independent.

Frank Gregory added: “If they are gonna do these fights it should be to the death for the fighter as well.”

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“Gruesome moments the bull is tortured to death by a bullfighter and enjoyed by a heartless audience,” said another person.

Earlier this year, a Spanish bullfighter was killed after he tripped and was later gored by a bull in France.

Ivan Fandino, 36, was rushed to the hospital, but later died from his injuries, Spanish news agency EFE reported, citing sources close to the Basque matador’s entourage, according to a Reuters report at the time.

Fandino stumbled after tripping on a cape used in a turn to engage and distract the specially-bred fighting bull. The animal then pierced the matador’s side with one of his horns, EFE said.

He is the second Spanish bullfighter to die in the ring in the past year. Victor Barrio was killed after being gored by a bull in front of spectators last July, the first time since the early 1990s a professional matador had died in the ring in Spain.

Every year several people die in Spanish summer festivals involving letting bulls loose in towns or in the countryside in pursuit groups of daredevil “bull runners,” which often attract tourists.

Reuters contributed to this report.