PAMPLONA, Spain-
A New York man suffered potentially paralyzing injuries when he was thrown by a young cow in a mock bull fight Friday at the end of the first day of Spain's famed running of the bulls.
Ray Ducharme, 31, of New York state, was thrown by one of five cows released in a crowd of hundreds of people in a ring after the first of eight days of bull runs. Officials said Ducharme could not move his legs and underwent emergency surgery.
"He is in very serious condition and could be paralyzed for life," said Pello Pellejero, a Pamplona government spokesman. He did not release Ducharme's hometown.
The run began at 8 a.m. when six bulls, each weighing about three-quarters of a ton, stormed out of a corral and chased thousands of runners a half-mile up packed Cuesta Santo Domingo street.
A New Zealand man was gored in the thigh and a Pamplona native fell and was trampled. Five other people suffered minor injuries.
Ducharme was injured in what is known as a vaquilla, in which hundreds of people chase five cows and pull their ears and tails in the bull ring where the runs end. The cows are much smaller than fighting bulls, and have smaller horns, but still weigh nearly a half-ton each.
Pamplona's San Fermin festival dates to the 16th century and was immortalized in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises." A bronze bust of the writer stands outside the bull ring.
There has been an effort in recent years to teach runners how to stay safe, including instructions to stay down after a fall rather than trying to stand up amid the charging animals.
Since record-keeping began in 1924, 13 people have been killed during the runs. The last death was in 1995.
