AN American man was seriously injured yesterday in a mock bullfight following the first day of the running of the bulls in Spain’s San Fermin festival.

A man from New York was left partially paralysed during a mock bullfight following the first running of the bulls in Pamplona on today, and seven other people were sent to the hospital after being gored or trampled by the massive beasts.

Armed with courage – and many with a little too much to drink – thousands of runners scrambled down Pamplona’s narrow cobblestone streets in Spain early today, chased by a pack of massive bulls in the first run of the famous San Fermin festival.