Gored bullfighter suffering infection

Spanish bullfighter Julio Aparicio has returned to intensive care and is fighting an infection after a horrific goring in the throat by a bull, a Madrid hospital said today.

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

In a statement today the hospital said Aparicio was now breathing normally and it described his condition as "grave" but stable.

The matador slipped in a bullring, fell to the ground and a 1,168lb bull drove its right horn through Aparicio's throat and out through his mouth.