Famous matador gored in bullring

(EPA/ PACO CAMPOS)

one of Spain's top matadors was seriously injured in Mexico when a 500kg bull gored him in the groin and hoisted him into the air.

Jose Tomas received a transfusion of eight litres of blood after being attacked by a bull named Navegante in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes. The bull's horn penetrated four inches into Tomas' groin and punctured a vein and an artery, his manager Salvador Boix said.

Tomas, one of Spain's most popular matadors, has a relatively rare blood type, A-, and bled so profusely that officials appealed over the arena's loudspeakers for compatible donors. Doctors operated on the 34-year-old immediately, not even taking the time to anaesthetise him.

He underwent more surgery later at a hospital for more than three hours. Television footage showed Tomas working the animal with his cape when the bull made a quick turn toward the matador and caught him in the groin. It lifted him into the air for a few seconds and shook its head with Tomas dangling from its sharp left horn, before a large, dark red stain spread through Tomas' suit.