Matador's Debut Bullfight Ends in Throat Goring

A 23-year-old matador was severely injured after a nasty turn with a bull in one of Spain's most famous bullfighting venues. More than 10,000 people in Madrid's Las Ventas bullring watched in horror Sunday as a bull started tossing Daniel Garcia Navarrete around "like a rag doll," as one witness described the bloody scene to Reuters. The Sun has graphic images of the incident, both during and after the goring, which led to Navarrete being impaled about 6 inches into his throat by the 1,000-pound-plus animal; he reportedly sustained injuries to his tongue and the roof of his mouth.

Reuters says he was also pierced about 4 inches in the leg before fellow matadors, as seen in the video shown here, rushed in to get the bull away from him. Unilad, which reports this was Navarrete's debut appearance, says many in the audience thought they were going to watch the bull maul Navarrete to death right in front of them. Navarrete is also said to be contending with a broken collarbone and sliced sciatic nerves; the Las Ventas ring said Monday in a statement he was recuperating after surgery the day before. The hospital where he's being treated describes his condition as "severe." (A 29-year-old bullfighter met a worse fate on live TV last summer.)