WATCH: Horror as bullfighter is gored through TONGUE, throat and mouth by half-ton bull
A YOUNG bullfighter is fighting for his life after being gored through the throat, face and tongue after his debut tournament went horribly wrong.
HORRIFIC moment 23-year-old bullfighter is gored in the face
Daniel García Navarrete, aged 23, was pierced several times in Spain's biggest arena, Las Ventas in Madrid.
The attack was witnessed by the horrified 10,000-strong crowd who originally thought he had been struck once in the thigh.
But after being rushed to hospital in a serious condition, doctors revealed that he had been pierced four times, twice in the neck and the other two through his jaw. One of the wounds was eight inches deep while the other of six inches penetrated the roof of his mouth and base of his tongue.
A bullfighter is fighting for his life after being gored through the throat in his debut tournament
The attack was witnessed by the horrified 10,000-strong crowd
The wounds also severed sciatic nerves, fractured a collarbone and caused extensive muscle damage.
The bullfighter, making his debut, also suffered extensive cuts and bruises. He was treated first at the infirmary's bullring and was said to be lucky to have even survived.
Surgeons at the Hospital San Francisco of Assisi who performed an emergency operation said his prognosis was "severe".
Surgeons said the bullfighter’s prognosis was ‘severe’
Shocked spectators described the scene as "horrific" and thought he was going to be killed by the bull, which weights half a ton.
"There was blood on his neck and a hole in his thigh," said one member of the crowd. "The bull was literally shaking him about like a rag doll."