Disturbing Video Shows Bullfighter Escapes Death After Being Attacked By Animal

A bullfighter, Arturo Macias, 35, escaped death after being gored through the neck during a bullfighting contest Saturday. The event was held in Plaza de Toros Monumental de Aguascalientes in San Marco, Mexico, in aid of Mexico's earthquake appeal, a report said.

A video captured the episode where Macias taunts the 544-kilogram bull with his cape and the animal charging around him. As he taunts the animal, he fails to judge its movement and is soon charged to the ground by the bull who then gores him three times.

However, the animal's attack missed his windpipe by just a few centimeters.

Then, in the video, fellow bullfighters are seen coming to Macias' rescue; they hold his throat up with a visible puncture wound.

He is carried out of the fighting ring to be provided with medical aid. He is also instructed by doctors not to go back to finish the fight as that would cost his life, but Macias moved ahead with his plan of finishing the fight, Mail Online reported.

After returning to the ring, he finally killed the bull. Macias said he knew that he was jumping into a life-threatening situation, but he decided to continue even after suffering wounds as he did not want to let down the victims of the earthquake that struck Mexico last month.

Air entered Macias' chest and neck through the gaping wound as a result of the attack, according to surgeons. The bullfighter is still in intensive care following an emergency operation, according to Mail Online.

The concept of bullfighting is a debatable topic in Spain with opponents saying the game is barbaric and is a bloody spectacle that should not be allowed in a civilized modern society. The game is apparently losing its popularity in Spain and gone are the days of the 1960s when the fights of the legendary Manuel Benitez made the Spanish go crazy about it, the Express reported.

The report also said that currently, most young people are into football.

The fading popularity of bullfighting can also be gauged from a recent survey that suggested only 19 percent of Spaniards support bullfighting while 58 percent oppose it, according to the Express.

Meanwhile, the supporters of the game insist that the game still deserved the status given to it by Francisco Franco, a Spanish general who ruled over Spain as a military dictator from 1939 until his death in 1975. He called the game the national sport.

In 2015, the Spanish government even bestowed cultural status upon the game.

It is considered that the tradition whose history dates back to medieval times, provides 57,000 jobs and pumps more than $1.58 billion into the economy. Supporters argue that injuries are common, but deaths are rare.

Even though safety standards have improved, a glance through the statistical figures of the number of deaths caused due to bullfighting show that more than 500 fighters have died since the 1700s from the game, the Express reported.