Man gored by bull at Spanish festival (From Echo)
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Man gored by bull at Spanish festival
7:00am Thursday 12th July 2012 in Local News By Christine Sexton
A MAN from Westcliff is in hospital after being gored by a bull in Spain.
Liam Tarff, 29, was taking part in the San Fermin Running of the Bulls Festival, in Pamplona.
Mr Tarff travelled in a camper van with five friends last Thursday to take part in Monday’s festival, in which thousands of men run with rampaging bulls.
He suffered a deep wound to his left leg and is expected to remain in hospital, in Spain, until at least the weekend.
Speaking from his hospital bed, he said: “It was a feeling of sheer panic when I saw the bull stop, turn round and run towards me.
“I was trapped against the barriers with people crowded around me and no fast way out.
“I felt its horn go through my leg. It was like being stabbed with a large knife.”
Paul Edwards, from Leigh, was one of the friends who went with him and called his parents – Evelyn and Terry Tarff, of Henley Crescent, Westcliff – to tell them the news.
Mrs Tarff, 60, a payroll manager, said: “It was all a bit surreal.
“His friend Paul called to tell us not to panic, but Liam had been ‘clipped’ by a bull.
“When he said he would spend five days in hospital, I realised it must have been more than a clip.
“Then people started sending me pictures.
“It was odd, because we were fairly calm as we knew he was all right, but later I started to get quite emotional as what happened hit me.”
Mrs Tarff said the whole episode was out of character for her son, who was not much of a daredevil.
She added: “He’s normally a quiet lad, but sometimes he can surprise us.”
Mr Tarff and another man, Nick Couchman, 20, who wasn’t with his group of friends, were injured when the half-ton bull, Runaway, broke away from the other animals.
Despite his injury, Mr Tarff managed to give a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was carried away on a stretcher with a blood-soaked bandage around his leg.
Dad Terry, 62, chairman of governors at Chase High School, Westcliff, which Liam attended, said his son, who lives in Brixton, south London, was lucky to be alive.
He said: “Boys will be boys, I suppose, and if you are going to get gored, then a leg is probably a better place for it to happen.
“His friends, who are all from the Southend area, are with him. They are all due home on Friday or Saturday, so they are hoping to bring Liam with them.
“It will be far easier for him to stretch out in the camper van, rather than being on a plane, but they are trying to persuade the Spanish hospital of that at the moment.”
Comments(21)
R85
says...
8:59am Thu 12 Jul 12
bigboy57
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9:14am Thu 12 Jul 12
Alice in Her Own Land :P
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9:36am Thu 12 Jul 12
pancake2
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9:46am Thu 12 Jul 12
Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote:spot on!
Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.
Blind Haze
says...
10:55am Thu 12 Jul 12
Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote:I'm with you on this - quite why people would take such ludicrous risks is beyond me.
Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.
However, please refrain from calling it a 'sport'....!
freecomment
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11:27am Thu 12 Jul 12
R85
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11:34am Thu 12 Jul 12
pancake2 wrote:Cruel is it? How? They release some bulls and let them run through the city! As far as I’m aware they don’t beat or whip them or anything – its not bull fighting!
Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote: Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.spot on!
R85
says...
11:37am Thu 12 Jul 12
Blind Haze wrote:If somebody takes ludicrous risks (to themselves ffs) then who the hell are you to say its wrong??? As long as they’re not hurting anyone who the hell is anyone to say its wrong? He’s obviously a lot more fun loving and less stiff than a lot of people on here.
Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote: Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.I'm with you on this - quite why people would take such ludicrous risks is beyond me. However, please refrain from calling it a 'sport'....!
If they do beat or whip the animal then I’m against it but I’ve seen it on TV and its just a load of people running away from bulls – I have never seen any whipping or goading!
emcee
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11:38am Thu 12 Jul 12
leighman
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11:41am Thu 12 Jul 12
Oh right, bulls hooves are designed to run around in a panic on cobbled or tarmaced streets are they?
Blind Haze
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11:47am Thu 12 Jul 12
R85 wrote:And you're saying it's right? There's regular fatalaties at bull running - if releasing a number of wild animals for people to risk their lives by lining the streets and run away from is sport and 'fun loving' then yes, I guess there are a lot of stiffs. Personally, I would rather have a few pints and a game of snooker but each to their own.
Blind Haze wrote:If somebody takes ludicrous risks (to themselves ffs) then who the hell are you to say its wrong??? As long as they’re not hurting anyone who the hell is anyone to say its wrong? He’s obviously a lot more fun loving and less stiff than a lot of people on here. If they do beat or whip the animal then I’m against it but I’ve seen it on TV and its just a load of people running away from bulls – I have never seen any whipping or goading!Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote: Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.I'm with you on this - quite why people would take such ludicrous risks is beyond me. However, please refrain from calling it a 'sport'....!
As for the welfare of the bulls, historically this was used as a procession for transporting them to the bullfights - I'm not sure whether this is still the case.
Russ13
says...
11:57am Thu 12 Jul 12
Headline should read "Idiot seriously injured doing something really silly and only has himself to blame".
No different to the hundreds of idiots that get blind drunk at the weekend and hurt themselves falling over but they don't make the headlines.
The Cater Wood Creeper
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1:09pm Thu 12 Jul 12
BB1957
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1:37pm Thu 12 Jul 12
Disgusting!
Max Impact
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3:28pm Thu 12 Jul 12
The Cater Wood Creeper wrote:Classic
gore blimey.....
Wonder if he had holiday insurance...
If he did it would be intresting reading the claims form.
"I was being a prat and running through tight winding cobbled streets being chased by raging bulls. I did not move quick enough and got gored"
fredfoot
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4:08pm Thu 12 Jul 12
notinwestcliffanymore
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4:23pm Thu 12 Jul 12
asbo uncut
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9:21pm Fri 13 Jul 12
R85 wrote:they slaughter the bulls in the ring you dimwit
Blind Haze wrote:If somebody takes ludicrous risks (to themselves ffs) then who the hell are you to say its wrong??? As long as they’re not hurting anyone who the hell is anyone to say its wrong? He’s obviously a lot more fun loving and less stiff than a lot of people on here.
Alice in Her Own Land :P wrote: Serves the b@st@rd right!! Anyone who gets involed in such cruel animal sports and gets hurt, deserves all they get.I'm with you on this - quite why people would take such ludicrous risks is beyond me. However, please refrain from calling it a 'sport'....!
If they do beat or whip the animal then I’m against it but I’ve seen it on TV and its just a load of people running away from bulls – I have never seen any whipping or goading!
asbo uncut
says...
9:25pm Fri 13 Jul 12
asbo uncut
says...
9:25pm Fri 13 Jul 12
tttutor says...
8:33am Thu 12 Jul 12