The unnamed 86-year-old from Halesowen, West Midlands, was gored by a bull with injuries to his elbow, face and hand, while a second Brit was knocked to the ground in the annual Pamplona event
A British pensioner who was gored by a bull during the San Fermin festival became the oldest participant to be injured taking part in the annual event.
The unnamed 86-year-old was among 10 people who were injured in the final day of the Pamplona festival last Tuesday. The tourist, from Halesowen, West Midlands, suffered multiple injuries during the running of the bulls, including a goring to his left elbow along with wounds to his eyebrow and right hand.
But he wasn’t the only Brit to face the wrath of the half-ton animals which crash through the historic city’s narrow streets. 24-year-old William Mitchinson was also hospitalised after being knocked to the ground and trampled in his attempt to outrun the six bulls and accompanying steers (bulls that were castrated at a young age).
Speaking outside Navarra University Hospital with his ankle in a brace, he said: “I ran until the bull trampled me. I’d seen the festival on social media, and it looked like good fun. It’s my first visit to Pamplona. I might come back another year – but only for the party.”
According to officials, two other runners suffered goring wounds from the controversial run, which lasted just two minutes and 25 seconds. One received a horn to the chest, while another was caught in the thigh. During the adrenaline-fuelled event, one of the steers broke free of the pack and charged a group of four men, with one appearing to smash his head on the ground as he fell.
July 14 marked the eighth morning in a row that the course in Pamplona, northern Spain, was packed out by revellers and spectators. Dramatic pictures from earlier in the festival showed runners sprinting through the streets dressed in red and white as they were chased down by the bulls.
Photos showed runners lying on the cobblestone streets, curled up as they attempt to shield themselves from the bulls which thunder past. An earlier run saw one person gored in the face, with 12 others needing medical treatment.
Every July, thousands of thrill-seekers flock to Pamplona for the festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. The festival brings a €100million (£85million) boost to the local economy, with hotel rates soaring by 400% thanks to the influx of one million tourists, but it faces fierce backlash.
Animal rights groups including PETA and Spain’s AnimaNaturalis regularly head into the city to protest what they describe as barbaric abuse, saying every bull forced onto the streets is later tortured to death in the evening’s bull fights. It’s also, unsurprisingly, incredibly dangerous for people who take part.
Since records began, 16 people have died taking part in the festival. The most recent death was 27-year-old Daniel Jimeno from Madrid, who was gored through the neck by a bull named Capuchino in 2009.