Spanish bullfighter Julio Aparicio back in intensive care with infection after throat goring

Gored Spanish bullfighter suffering infection

MADRID — A Madrid hospital says Spanish bullfighter Julio Aparicio has returned to intensive care and is fighting an infection after a horrific goring in the throat by a bull.

Aparicio had left the unit and was recovering well on Monday following surgery to reconstruct his throat, mouth and palate, but outbreak of an infection forced a return to the unit where doctors placed him on mechanically assisted breathing, October 12 Hospital said.

In a statement released Saturday the hospital says Aparicio is now breathing normally and it describes his condition as “grave” but stable.

The matador slipped in a bullring, fell to the ground and a 1,168 pound (530-kilogram) bull drove his right horn through Aparicio’s throat and out his mouth.