Man crushed by elephant recovers

The man who survived being crushed by an elephant has rejoined the circus and will soon return to his native Spain.

Justino Munez was crushed by Baby — the 2.5-tonne runaway elephant — following an incident in a holding pen at Courtney Brothers Circus in Blackpool, Cork, earlier this month.

Mr Munez was released from Cork University Hospital in recent days.

Initially listed as critical, he had suffered massive internal injuries. However, he has made a dramatic recovery and circus boss Wayne Courtney confirmed yesterday that Mr Munez had rejoined the circus to continue his recovery with his friend, the elephant trainer, Joy Gartner.

“Doctors have advised him not to travel by plane for several days but he is hoping to return home to Spain in a few days,” said Mr Courtney.

“We are just glad that everything worked out well in the end.”

Mr Courtney also said Mr Gartner was still awaiting the results of tests conducted on blood and urine samples taken from the elephants after concerns were raised the animals’ food may have been tampered with.

The circus left Cork for Limerick, where its shows went off without incident. Performances will take place in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, from Thursday.