Posted on 07/10/2006 12:26:06 PM PDT by Westlander
A North Carolina man's condition deteriorated Monday after being injured last week in an event connected to an annual festival in Pamplona, Spain.
Ray Ducharme's condition worsened since Sunday while he was in intensive care and he was receiving help breathing, Pamplona spokeswoman Begona Lopez told The Associated Press Monday. Ducharme was being treated for a collapsed lung and required a tracheotomy, according to a Web site maintained by his supporters.
The latest update on the Web site www.pray4ray.com said Monday that Ducharme would be unconscious for three days while fluid was drained from his lungs. "This is a critical time in Ray's recovery," the site said.
The 31-year-old bond trader for Bank of America was left partially paralyzed in a side event Friday on the first day of the San Fermin festival. The festival dates back to the 16th century, but Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel, "The Sun Also Rises," made it an international event. Thousands of runners traditional white shirts and pants with red handkerchiefs dash in front of bulls that are raced through Pamplona's streets to the bull ring.
Ducharme was hurt during a side event to the bull run. He was among hundreds of people who taunted five cows in a bull ring, chasing the cows and pulling their ears and tails.
(Excerpt) Read more at clickondetroit.com ...
It depends on the bond type. Junk bond trading has all the risk of stocks.
How embarrassing.
Seems like the correct venue for this would be a cow ring.

..Remember?.SLAP!!!,"stop steaming up my tail"
Doogle
Obviously the cows are smarter than Mr. Ducharme.
I know a few of traders and they are a pretty wild bunch. At least half are coke heads and spend a lot of their money in Vegas and at strip clubs. I can definately see at least one of them trying the bull run.
"Step off, George."
Why? It does wonders for the human gene pool?
Poor Ray was so un-COW-ordinated that he got COW-opted during his COW-ardly deed.
My Dad used to have a cow-calving operation on his farm. A cow really is huge (especially when pregnant...they grow out, not down) and could hurt you, if she wanted to, which, fortunately I've never witnessed. Taunting cows...who are not agressive at all, and really do not want to hurt anyone, is a seriously cruel thing, in my book, even if it is an old Spanish tradition. Not cowardly, but cruel and foolish.
A bull on the other hand, especially without some cows around, really does want to hurt you...I can understand a bit why the Spaniards mess around with them. Still, all of this seems to be a tradition of medieval and even Roman colloseum origins, and, in spite of the romance of it...should be abolished. Taunting animals at all (like our ancestors in the North used to bait and taunt bears, or bulls too...) is not fit for human beings to do, period.
Still the kid was stupid...and needs our prayers.
(see Proverbs 12:10 below...)
Ditto!!!!!
That's why their trading is VERY closely monitored. By people who don't do idiotic stuff like this.
You dont need legs to trade bonds, do you?
If this guy survives, he would do well to set himself up with a laptop with Internet connection and video capability, and devote himself to persuading other people who are thinking of doing this, not to.
I gather you haven't spent much time around bond-trading desks . . .
For me at least, it is not his "thrill-seeking" that bothers me. It's his participation in a cruel activity. For example: getting seriously injured while skydiving versus getting seriously injured while beating your dog.
One thing I will agree with you on is that it's a shame he decided to partake in this, but he didn't care how the bulls and cows would fare in his quest to get his "thrills."
Oh definitely. Of course, slaughtering cows to make Big Macs is also cruel, but this is cruelty for cruelty's sake. There's nothing redeeming about it and serves no purpose.

I had my left leg fractured from a kick from a 350 lb Charlois,it required 2 screws,on crutches for seven months.
Farmers don`t play games with bulls & cows, they can kill or cripple a person easily.
I do enjoy reading Hemmingway,great American writer.That running of the bulls is crazy,bulls and alcohol filled young men.

This guy had sown the wind and now he is reaping the whirlwind. Why would someone want to taunt barnyard animals that are five to fifteen times their weight and just as fast? Most of my sorrow is for his family who were unable to properly beat some sense into this kid a decade ago.
~ Blue Jays ~
I'm sure he'd love the challenge. He's exxxxxxtreme!
Bulls have horns? Who knew?
....and in turn 3 Racin' Ray has hit the wall. That's what happens when you get caught up in the marbles Darrel....
He's from BofA in Charlotte, NC
Or maybe originally from Bath NY...
You may either 1) Kill them swiftly and humanely in order to eat them -or- 2)Leave them alone
Deviating from these rules can cause serious injury or death......
French Bullfighting though is another matter...I heard 99.9999% of the time the chicken wins.

What they should do is create "liberal fighting"...Throw a liberal in a ring and have a picture of Bush on a cape, and when the liberal charges, you kick him in the `effin ass! OLE!!!
Your succinct guideline for interacting with large animals sounds about right. 
~ Blue Jays ~
Guy's an idiot...
ROFL at the French "bullfighter".
No "se Habla Espanol"?
You have made my Potential Tag List (see my home page)!!!
A rare honor not lightly given! :)
Is that Superman?
Who pays for these beeves?
But not much for the tortured animals.
carolyn
I realized after I wrote that, that it may have sounded like I was in favor of bullfighting, which I am most certainly not. However, the milder garbage that this dolt engaged in, namely pulling on the ears and tails of cows, would seem to do no real damage to the cows, while rather effectively putting the dolt out of commission, and most likely out of the gene pool. The passing annoyance to the cows seems like an acceptable cost, for the much greater benefit.
A rare honor not lightly given! :)
Thank you! I appreciate the honor!
Cows can be just as dangerous as bulls, make no mistake about that. The bulls will be a little bigger but the cows can have horns and will attack. We have cows that you cannot turn your back on and bulls who just want you to scratch their heads.
Datwin nominee...good for the bull. Ridiculous sport that should be outlawed.
I thought it was just bulls at the running of the BULLS. The additional cow pen is bizarre. Note to self. Don't pull a stressed cow's ear.
I thought the cows in the pen was a little strange too. I guess it is for people who don't want to run but want close contact with the animals. This guy got more contact than he wanted.
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