Op-Ed: The revenge of the bull, Spanish matador gored

Aguascalientes - One of Spain's best matadors, Jose Tomas, almost lost his life in a bullfight staged in Mexico, losing most of his blood after a bull gored him in the upper thigh, a good place to attack if one wants to inflict heavy loss of blood.

While the BBC merely reports the facts as they are known at the moment, the Huffington Post got hold of a video showing the event (see above). Some call what is shown here 'graphic images', but all one actually sees is how the bull impales the matador on his left horn and flips him up into the air. While top-level bullfighters are not often injured in the ring, at least not as seriously as this time, for Spanish-born Jose Tomas it was a day in his life he'll never forget. He lost so much blood after the bull got him, that he needed surgery right in the stadium - while people in the audience were asked to donate blood immediately. This proved more difficult than expected, because the bullfighter has the rather rare blood type A-, something the bull had perhaps smelled. Being very angry because so many of his species are mistreated and often murdered in these games loved by bloodthirsty humans, the bull not only attacked in the right place for maximum damage, he drove his horn into the man's thigh - although some claim it was the groin - to a depth of 10 cm, opening up a vein and aorta. Navegante, the bull that is now celebrated among his peers, weighs 500 kg and put all his weight, force and anger into the strike. Strangely enough, media reports claim that that Mr. Thomas lost eight liters of blood, which is astonishing when one remembers that the average human being only has five liters to begin with. As of this moment, the injured bullfighter has been pumped full of new blood and is in intensive care, albeit unconscious. Update Tuesday's Barcelona Reporter carries the following sentence: Bullfighter José Tomás gored life is not in danger, but he will be out of action for six months.