Jose Antonio Morante Camacho, also known as Morante de la Puebla, was competing with ‘Clandestino’ the fourth bull of the afternoon at La Maestranza bullring in Seville on April 20
One of Spain’s top bullfighters has been left with a “very serious” injury after a bull’s horn inflicted a 10cm gore that perforated his rectum.
José Antonio Morante Camacho, widely known by his ring name Morante de la Puebla, was facing the fourth bull of the afternoon, named ‘Clandestino’, at La Maestranza bullring in Seville on Sunday. Morante, referred to by numerous publications as the ‘king of the bullfighters’, was competing during the tenth event of the renowned April Fair when he was gored by the animal.
Reports suggest he was attempting to control the bull when it charged at his chest, knocking him to the ground. As he tried to escape the bull’s path, one of its horns appears to have caught him in the buttocks.
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Footage taken of the incident shows the bull’s horn making contact with his buttock, though the full extent of the injury was not visible beyond a tear in his trousers. He was visibly distressed on the ground, clutching the injured area, before fellow bullfighters carried him from the ring.
The celebrated bullfighter had already sustained an injury earlier in the event when a bull caught his ear in a minor incident. Morante was rushed to hospital, where a medical report has since revealed the full extent of his injuries following a two-hour operation.
The report stated: “It is a “bull horn wound on the posterior anal margin with a trajectory of about 10cm, partially damaging the anal sphincter muscles with a perforation of the posterior wall of the rectum of 1.5cm.”
The report added: “The intervention consisted of washing the wound, repairing the rectal wall and the sphincter apparatus, leaving a suction drain in the postanal and retrorectal space.”
Doctors at the scene, according to local reports, had to conduct a specialised surgical procedure in the infirmary of the Maestranza bullring. The operation lasted two hours.
The distressing incident has cast a shadow over the remainder of the event, leaving many deeply concerned about Morante’s wellbeing. The devastating accident came after expectations soared on the back of a move Morante made before participating in the latest festival, with the bullfighter having unexpectedly cut off his traditional bullfighter’s coleta.
The pigtail is sported by many fighters who participate in the sport, and Morante’s decision to remove it in Madrid in October last year preceded his highly-anticipated return to the ring on Easter Sunday.
Morante’s comeback included appearances at the April Fair and the Corpus Christi festival, and, when the accident took place on Monday, 12,000 people had come to spectate his return to the ring during a sold-out show.
