Bullfighter Jimenez Fortes was gored again as he competed at the San Isidro Bullfight Festival in Madrid, Spain. Saul Jimenez Fortes, who was severally injured in the neck and stomach, walked out of the stadium and was rapidly taken to the Las Ventas hospital. Last year, he was also gored at the same event.
“Saul Jimenez Fortes gored at the San Isidro Bullfight Festival,” every year it is the same headline. Some are saying the young bullfighter should get another job.
On Thursday afternoon, Jimenez Fortes stepped in the bullfighting ring in Madrid, Spain eager to put his life at risk in front of the animal. Moreover, Fortes did just that as he fought his sixth bull for the day.
It all happened very fast, but it seemed to last an eternity. As soon as the gates were opened, the bull came rushing toward Jimenez Fortes and lifted him up with its horns.
The creature, which weighed over a tonne, stabbed Jimenez on the side of his neck, stomach and lifted him again before slamming him on the ground face first. After being gored, Jimenez Fortes kneeled on the ground holding his bloody neck before he was assisted out of the ring.
Fortes was taken to the Las Ventas hospital in Madrid where, Dr. Maximo Garcia Padrós operated on him. The surgeon told local media that Fortes is “very lucky, two centimeters deeper and it would have been a tragedy.”
He explained that the operation took about 72 minutes and was performed under general anesthesia. After the operation, Fortes asked if he could return to the ring to keep fighting.
“The bull’s horns entered on both sides of the neck, bruising the jugular vein and carotid artery, without actually breaking them. Otherwise we would be talking of a real tragedy,” the doctor added.
The medical expert said the injuries sustained by Jimenez Fortes were “virtually identical” to the ones that famous Spanish matador José Gómez Ortega, aka Joselito, suffered in 1987.
Joselito was considered a child prodigy and was the youngest bullfighter to receive the title of Matador de Toros at the age of 17. Joselito followed in arch-rival Juan Belmonte‘s footsteps, and the two ushered in bullfighting’s “Golden Age.”
Joselito was fatally gored in the ring at the age of 25 during a competitive bullfight with his brother-in-law, the matador Ignacio Sánchez Mejías.
In 2014, the San Isidro festival was cancelled following Fortes goring.
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