A British tourist has reportedly been gored in a Mexican bullring after being “tricked” into the arena to play a game of soccer.
According to a report in The Times, 41-year-old Ieuan Llewellyn was gored and thrown into the air nine times by a bull in the bullring, in the resort of Cancun on Mexico’s Caribbean coastline.
The newspaper quotes the tourist as saying that he had been tricked into playing the game by an English-speaking compere. He reportedly said: “He asked for six volunteers, so I thought ‘why not’ and stood up. Six of us went into the ring and we were given helmets to put on our heads.
“The compere said we would be playing a game of soccer and the organisers brought out two small goal nets. Then he said ‘watch out for the ball but he obviously meant bull. We started having a kickabout but then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw this huge bull.”
The newspaper reports that the 1,500-strong crowd, at the Plaza de Toros arena, cheered as Mr Llewellyn was thrown into the air by the bull, which had eight-inch horns. He added: The whole thing was terrifying and I was in agony. It gored me, tossed me and kicked me but everybody thought it was a big laugh.”
The final insult came when the compere reportedly raised Mr Llewellyn’s arm and presented him with a voucher for a free meal at a local restaurant.
According to The Times, the man admitted he had been “naïve” to enter the ring, but wanted to warn other tourists to avoid doing the same thing.
Report by Tim Gillett, News From Abroad
