American brothers gored in bloodiest bull run in San Fermin festival

American brothers Lawrence and Michael Lenahan won't forget their debut at San Fermin festival.

In one split second the same bull had gored the two of them _ one in the buttock and the other in the leg. Blood was everywhere.

"I started yelling at my brother to show him I was bleeding everywhere but he showed me he was bleeding everywhere," Lawrence, a 26-year-old U.S. Air Force captain from Hermosa Beach, California, said in a phone interview Friday from his hospital bed in Pamplona. Michael, 23, from Philadelphia, also remains hospitalized after undergoing surgery.

The two were gored Thursday in the sixth bull run of the nine-day festival, the longest and most dangerous so far.

In all, 13 people were injured and seven were gored, including the Lenahan brothers, all by the same bull.

In one incident, the bull's horn tore through the shin of Norwegian Christopher Neiff, 24, sliding under the skin and right up to his knee. Photographs and video images of the moment were not for the squeamish.

Initially, the media reported that Neiff was one of the Lenahan brothers.

The festival organizers said in their daily medical report that Neiff had a 12-centimeter injury but that the bone was not affected.

But the incident did not unnerve the elder of the Lenahans.

"We will definitely be back again," Lawrence said. "My brother will never run (in the festival) again but he would like to come back to celebrate."

"It struck a little bit more spirit into me," he added. "I think my brother and I underestimated the speed and danger of it."

The brothers arrived in Pamplona with friends and had watched one bull run before taking part. Thursday's run was their first.

"I remember looking back and thinking I was in trouble," Lenahan said.

After the two were hospitalized, Lenahan said he told his parents by phone that they were fine because they were together.

He said he remembered using his shirt to help wrap his brother's leg as medical service staff arrived to help them.

The pack of six 1,300-pound (590-kilogram) bulls and six steers _ intended to keep the bulls running in a single pack _ disintegrated shortly after the animals set off on the course through the narrow cobblestone streets of Pamplona.

The run lasted 6 minutes, 9 seconds, compared with the usual length of 2 minutes because one bull separated _ the most dangerous thing that can happen during a bull run.

Friday's run, which lasted 2 minutes 42 seconds, occurred with few complications though several people sustained bruises and other minor injuries.

The San Fermin festival, renowned for its all-night street parties, dates back to 1591. It gained worldwide fame in Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises."

Since records began in 1924, 13 people have been killed in the runs. The last fatality, a 22-year-old American, was gored to death in 1995.