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AN IRISH TEENAGER has died after being attacked by a bull during an annual bull running festival in Spain.
Diego Page (16), who moved to Spain seven years ago with his Irish father and Spanish mother, was rushed to hospital in the northern city of Huesca after receiving severe chest injuries when the bull rammed him into a fence. He died on Wednesday morning, an hour and a half after being admitted.
Two days of mourning were declared by the major of Huesca, Ana Alos Lopez, and flags in the city were flown at half mast yesterday.
According to Spanish news reports, the nearby town of Bolea where the teenager lived with his family is in “shock” with many people describing the situation as like living “in a bad dream”.
Huesca was celebrating its annual festival, the San Lorenzo Fiesta, which is run from August 9 to 15. Festival-goers dodge young bulls let loose in the city’s bullring every morning as part of the festivities.
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Hardly surprising is it?
You wouldn’t be say flippant about it of it was brother/son/nephew of yours.
I would not have a 16 year old relative of mine at these bull running so called festivals, it was only a matter of time before someone will die.
Seriously, what’s flippant? It’s tragic he died, but there’s no way in hell I’d let my son go do the bull run, if I had any say in the matter. The surprise is that more people don’t die every year. I’m sorry, but it’s a stupid, foolhardy thing to do and it’s taking an obvious risk. You can’t argue with that.
These practices are archaic, and something like this is bound to happen. I don’t want to get into the game of blaming people for this kid’s death, but no child should be allowed engage in this activity. I’ve seen all too many videos of it not ending well for people. The Spanish excuse of “It’s out culture” is no longer valid. They need to end these moronic games – it risks the lives of many, and puts animals under needless stress.
Would u also ban road bowls if some kid got hit in the head and died
What about the 3 young lads that died in the car crash last friday? Should we ban driving in that case also? I think you’ll find it causes far more deaths and horrendous injuries than the bull run.
@King: there is a big fatality chance diference between driving a car and running away from an inraged bull…
people have died from papercuts, THEREFORE we should ban paper…
Also insenitive example man…
Those of you talking about banning other non related activities show an ignorance of comparing like with like. In terms of risk levels alone, the comments are futile…
Driving is a normal, necessary, every day activity. Every day activities carry the risk of accidents occurring. Torturing another living creature to death is not a normal, necessary, every day activity and carries a much higher risk of serious injury or death for anyone participating in it. I feel no sympathy for anyone who is injured or killed while taking part in activities like this
@ Pat – Apologies if I offended you or anyone with my example. It was insensitive of me. I just wanted to get my point across that we cannot just keep banning things if people get hurt or die in them. People will always die in unusual circumstances that were easily preventable.
A better example might be Basejumping. The statistics roughly are 1 in every 2000 will die. For a sport that has a active population of roughly 20,000..it is a pretty high figure. Why do something that is dangerous and could lead to serious injury or death? Because its human nature coupled with the mundane nature of the modern world. People think the excitement is worth the risk. Should this be banned because it is a very dangerous sport?
There is also a difference between driving and driving dangerously. A lot of young men drive like lunatics and this why we have fatalities. Don’t ban driving, ban boy racers and their stupid plastic cars.
@Michael, the bull run is important for how else would be give out Darwin awards
@king, just did the math, you are more like likely to die from a bull run than base jumping(odds of death are about 1 in 16,000 per bull run)
The odds of death in base jump is far lower at the figure you gave per jump, as it counts for multiple jumps from one person.
Also at least saftey precausions can be taken with a a base jumper. Angery bull= far less predictible
…so yes it should be banned
@ Pat – Again, I was only using base jumping as something that could be considered dangerous. Not a direct comparison. While I am sure that your figures are correct, they don’t really address my point. I would consider the bull run more dangerous than base jumping. Thousands of base jumping events are held each year with few incidents….where as there are only on handful of bull run events where people do get injured and sometimes die.
So I am not disputing what is more dangerous, but more is it right to ban something because people die during it. People die in all sorts of easily avoidable circumstances….I just think banning is the wrong thing to do. Maybe educate people to better make a decision for themselves rather than having a government acting like a nanny.
Hypothetically, If there was a sport that had a 50% survival rate and 100′s of people wanted to do it, should it be allowed?
HELL NO, its about where you draw the line and running with bulls is past that line,
Hundreds of people have been injured, many have died from this bloodsport…
I see pat is a firm believer in the nanny state. Are you in favour of banning running in school yards as well?
@robert, I just said base-jumping is expectable as a sport, so no I don’t agree with that.
Take the time to properly read through what people say next time, before you make a silly comment.
My condolence to the boys family.but these medieval cruel bull runs should be banned.
Not to mention actual bull fighting, watch a couple of bull fights and then tell me its perfectly ok to kill an animal in such a way. Disgusting stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JmXO2OwGv4
watch till the end when after sticking spears into the bull they then drag its corpse around the place, how anyone can call this a sport is beyond me
1) I am from a farm. I have been to meat processing plants many, many times since I was 6 years old. All animals are knocked out before they are killed, and they are skilled so humans can eat, not for fun
2) The bull does not get a fighting chance. They are ALWAYS killed in the end
3) I never mentions the Spanish once.
4) I totally agree that penalties in Ireland should be ALOT tougher for people found guilty of animal cruelty. I never said, or implied otherwise.
5) I would say that we so drink too much, but not all people drinking alcohol leads them to cause social problems. All bull fighting is torture to animals
Do you have a pet dog or cat ? How would you fell if I tortured him for 3 hours, then killed it ? Is this acceptable ?
RIP. Very sad.
Spot on Michael Carty,
Spot on, Michael.
Well you are wrong on the fact that the bulls are killed ALWAYS in the end. If a bull fights well enough, the audience can spare it, and it will be sent to a breeding farm. Granted, it isn’t like this happens often.
If you truly are from a farm, you would know that animals, especially cows aren’t stupid. They know what is happening once at the abattoir, they can smell the fear of other animals, along with the smell of death. I would’t want to know what it is like for a cow to be stuck there knowing the inevitable is only around the corner.
You keep using the word torture. Is bull fighting worse torture than what happens to caged hens or pigs who never see day light. I think people need to review what they consider true torture.
Of course, I wouldn’t want you to torture my dog or cat. The same way I’m sure you wouldn’t be too happy with them being farmed and used for food.
@Michel
Whether we kill an animal for sport, to eat or to wear……..at the end of the day what’s the difference?
I ask this as a meat eating leather wearer, I just don’t understand why some consider it more moral to kill an animal so we can enjoy eating it’s flesh than for sport.
@King Olaf
Of course this should this be banned because it is a very dangerous sport? It should should be banned because its not a sport. Its animal torture
Ever been to an abattoir that processes average Joe’s meat? Now that is torture. All for the sake of people wanting their nice clean, blood free, plastic packaging. But let me guess, because the majority of people never see it, and therefore never think about it, it is easily justified torture.
You might never agree with me, but I think everyone would rather be the bull that gets a fighting chance rather than the one standing on an assembly line of death.
Besides, who are we to tell the Spanish what to do? Maybe we should sort out our own mess at home first. Some horrible cases of animal cruelty and torture here, where the people involved getting a banning order and a small fine. Not even a mention of jail time.
How would you feel is the Spanish decided to lecture us on our wreckless drinking “culture”? It kills many and effects many others too.
Michael, in Ireland you are always going to get negative reaction (in this case red thumbs) if you mention banning animal cruelty.
Typical Irish reaction to ban everything…….just listen to Joe Duffy any day of the week. No matter what is in the news, everyones instinctive reaction is ban ban ban
Surely common sense is king, and in a free country populated by Adults, we cannot require a law governing every aspect of human behaviour.
Yes bull running is crazy, and a tradition, but if free people want to take those risks after considering them. I can respect that, myself I am not interested…….however everyone is different, and this reflexive ban culture really annoys me.
We do not require a nanny state for everything……
What HelloGoogleTracking said.
Everybody dies. If they want to take the chance at a traditional bull running fiesta, let them do it.
Horrible. Who said it not a sport is correct, it’s ridiculous and cruel. Spain also have a festival where they set a live bull on fire. Is that ok because it’s their culture??
“Shock”?? Seriously?
Watched the vid Barry really chilling and unbelieveable stuff. So called culture is med..evil and should be stopped
I will get million thumbs down but i dont feel sympathy for people injured in bull fights / chases. Sorry.
These so-called “fiestas” involving blood curdling cruelty to animals and danger to human participants should be banned. The Pamplona stunt is another example of this disgusting nonsense. Throughout Spain, animals are subjected to numerous forms of torture in the name of sport and entertainment. In the bull ring, bulls are literally tortured to death. It’s not just the matador with his swishing cape and sword versus the bull…the animal is stabbed repeatedly with lances prior to the showdown with the matador. It is beaten over the kidneys and has vaseline rupped into its eyes before even entering the ring…all designed to weaken the animal. In some festivals, live bulls are set alight. Though we have the cruel practice of hare coursing here in Ireland, bloodsports that pose a clear and severe danger to human safety are doubly offensive. They belong in the Dark Ages and why the EU has failed to move against them is a mystery to me.
@King Olaf, “Ever been to an abattoir that processes average Joe’s meat? Now that is torture.”
Have you ever been to one? The animals are killed very quickly, unlike in a bull fight
Yes I have been to one, several times unfortunately. I know they are killed very quickly. They don’t physically endure very much pain. I would presume you have been to one? Did you not get the smell of fear in the place? Those animals know what is coming, all they can do is stand around and wait for it. I would imagine anticipation of death is worse than death itself.
This the reason I don’t eat farmed meat. Unless I know the restaurant well and how my food is treated, I just simply stick to eating fish or vegetarian. Any of the red meat I get is from when I go hunting a couple of times per year. If I could keep my own animals and slaughter them myself I would, but the EU has made it illegal for a person to slaughter their own meat.
At least in a bull fight, the bull thinks it has a fighting chance. Better than waiting around for the end to come.
@ frank, @ Michael perfectly valid for Ireland but in “civilised ” France thousands of animals are killed every week ( and don’t forget that it’s nearly the end of Ramadan) without prior stunning according to Muslim Halal rituals. According to the French National Front a majority of bovines are killed in this manner! My family are heading towards a vegetarian existence because of this cruelty. Sorry to be off subject but animals in Ireland are probably better treated … Still see some empty Irish livestock transporters on the roads here ( in Fr) , am I to believe that animals are still transported from Ireland to die on the continent? Sorry I really don’t know
People die from this every year and it’s a stupid festival when people’s lives are at serious risk.
Just watched the video via Barry so cruel how is that considered sport?
Karma’s a bitch
I’ve seen these young bulls before. skinny little yokes with tiny horns. you can let them buck you with ease, and the Spanish do too. must have been a freak accident.
I’m Spanish (sorry for my English) and I’d like to point out a couple of things:
- About bull fightings, I also think that our badly called “national party” should be banned. The good thing is that bullfighting has fewer and fewer followers everyday, specially among new generations, and I can say for sure that the majority of Spanish people don’t like it. Unfortunately, it’s still deeply associated with right-wing nationalist-catholic people, and now they’re in the government so there’s very little hope in making some progress in the bannish of that cruelty, at least for the next upcoming years (the government is even increasing the public subsidies to it). I wish the EU do something on that.
- Bull runnings are a different matter; people just run in front of the bulls. I don’t like it and I find it a very stupid way to risk your life, but bulls are not tortured or harmed in bull runnings. Every year people, usually drunk foreigners, die in bull runnings but people still do it year after year; I just cannot understand it.
- @Annie Claire, there’s no such an event were the bull is set on fire, they just put torchs in the bull’s horns. Still stressful for the bull though.
I was in Huseca last week. Went to a bull fight. Would not recommend it. This coming from a meat-loving person. Don’t know why its call a bull fight when the bull doesn’t stand a chance. I was rooting for the bull, alas, six out of the six were killed. The first bull death was incredibly hard to watch. And I’ve hunted.
Don’t damn the town though. It knows how to party and is a beautiful city with great people who were very welcoming.
RIP to the kid and condolences to his family.
them’s the risks.
I was immortal at that age also; I was lucky to survive till now; this is why nations glamourise risk, in order to attract that demographic to high risk activity in armed forces; with maturity comes better risk analysis; single males have less responsibility. Hence car accident deaths et cetera. At that age we think we can’t die. It’s an unfortunate facet of masculinity, but a necessary one. Get over it.
I remember the immortal phase too, mad to look back on! Luckily I never happened across a bull run.
Get over what? These are extremely cruel practises, apart from the danger to humans crazy enough to get involved. Some people need to get over their addiction to animal cruelty.
Banning seems to me as
Medieval as some of the commentators are suggesting, If hounding like it don’t go, if you abhor it join an active group to
Change the way the sport is
Practiced but why have we turned into a typical bloody nanny state, that’s nasty ban it society. What about good honest open, critical debate with people deciding for themselves do we really need a bloody government to tell us what we can & can’t do in every aspect of our lives. Think many people
Just didn’t really want to get ‘king olafs’ point that he was making, seems they’d rather make stupid emotional ill thought out comment like ‘i’ve no sympathy with people who die at bull fights’ lovely guys so sensitive to the family of a dead teenager, very thought provoking & intelligent critique of the situation. I’m not personally a fan of bull running or bull fighting but it’s part of Spanish culture & I think we should respect that, of course there are arguments to be made to the Spanish as to whether it is a valid sport etc having lived in Spain I know this is an on going argument not only with the international community but also amongst the Spanish themselves but ‘it should be banned’ coming from a few Irish ‘disgusted, appalled etc’ come on! It’s so easy to just knee jerk & we the lovely friendly accommodating Irish are in danger of becoming a nation of something to say about how rotten everywhere else is while we ignore the awful things that pass for ‘culture’ here at home
Hope the bull was ok. What kind of parents allow their child to take part in something so dangerous?
I’m with Hemingway on this
Bullshit
Shit happens
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