Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla lies on the arena after being gored in the face by a bull during a bullfight in the northeastern city of Zaragoza

In this photo taken Oct. 7, 2011, Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla lies on the arena after being gored in the face by a bull during a bullfight in the northeastern city of Zaragoza, Spain. (AP)

 A Spanish bullfighter is likely to suffer facial paralysis and lose the sight in one eye after a terrifying goring, the hospital treating him said Saturday.

 

Television images showed the moment when the bull's left horn ripped into Juan Jose Padilla's lower jaw to emerge beside his protruding eyeball as spectators in the northeastern city of Zaragoza screamed in horror.

 

Padilla is in a stable condition and recovering from a five-hour operation to repair his face, the statement from the Miguel Servet Hospital said.

 

It said Padilla, 39, suffered eye, bone, muscle and skin damage when the bull pinned him to the ground and gored him. Surgeons had not been able to repair a severed facial nerve.