AN AMERICAN man is recovering in the intensive-care unit of a Spanish hospital after a bull gave him the “biggest goring wound” the doctor who performed emergency surgery on him had ever seen.

    Benjamin Miller of Georgia underwent a three-hour operation to repair damage to his thighs, sphincter and back muscles after being tossed and gored by a bull.

    The 20-year-old was at a hospital in western Salamanca after being hurt at Ciudad Rodrigo’s Carnaval del Toro bullfighting festival Saturday.

    Miller had one wound that measured 40 centimeters.

    The bull gored him through the thigh of the left leg. His sphincter was also quite damaged and suffered numerous hemorrhages.

    He reportedly came to Carnaval del Toro with a group of American students.

    Surgeon Enrique Crespo was called to operate on Miller after he was injured on the first day of the annual festival.

    Crespo said: “It’s not the worst injury I’ve seen, but it’s the biggest goring wound I’ve ever had to operate on.”

    Two other unidentified men were hurt during Saturday’s festivities.

    Town councilor Pedro Munoz said: “One man from Scotland and a Spaniard from Salamanca were also injured.”

    Munoz added: “Doctor Crespo is a world-renowned expert and we have a medically-equipped helicopter on standby every day of our annual fiesta.”

    Fiestas featuring bulls are common in Spain, and critics and aficionados alike agree that the events, which attract international audiences, are dangerous.

    Munoz said somewhere between 45,000 and 50,000 people had been attracted over the weekend to this year’s four-day fiesta, that includes afternoon bullfights and bull-running events.

    Ciudad Rodrigo — population 14,000 — is a small cathedral city close to the Portuguese border that is a popular tourist destination.

    It retains its ancient defensive walls and was the site of key battles between Napoleon’s army and British forces under the command of the Duke of Wellington from 1810 to 1812.

    (SD-Agencies)