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This is the moment a British groom-to-be died of a suspected heart attack in front of his father and friends in Benidorm.
The father-of-one, 29, from Halifax, was celebrating his stag do at the Funky Flamingo bar on March 22 when tragedy struck, sparking a major response from emergency services.
The bar’s manager, Gaston Luciano, told the Spanish Eye how the Brit suddenly fell backwards off a bar stool and hit his head against the ground, causing it to bleed.
He said: ‘I was doing CPR with the help of another customer, he was responsive for around 60 seconds and then there was nothing. We tried for around 15 minutes before the ambulance arrived, then they took over and worked on him for another 45.
‘They gave him a shot of adrenaline and connected him to a machine, they did everything they could, it was so sad.
‘His friends were in shock for the first minute or so and then it hit them what was happening, they were emotional and crying.’
Gaston said he spoke with the young man’s father, who told him the family were from Halifax and that he had a son.
He added: ‘The guy and his fiancé were due to get married in May, he was so young. The father said he had already had a heart attack in England five years ago when he was 24.’
The Argentinian father-of-two said he has been working in Benidorm since he was 16.
He said: ‘This was not my first time dealing with something like this. When people come here they forget everything, they drink a lot, take a lot of substances and can get carried away, they need to try and avoid that.’
There is no suggestion the stag who died had consumed narcotics.
Holidaymaker Tracey Pilling happened to be walking by the bar when the incident unfolded.
She told the Spanish Eye: ‘There were loads of people outside, we were just passing by, but there were several police cars and two ambulances… it was very sad.
‘We moved on as we felt it was inappropriate to stand and watch, but we were told his friends were all standing outside.’
Tracey said she was searching the internet the next day to see if there were any reported updates.
‘We were obviously upset by the news and hoping for a better outcome,’ she said.
The Brit had posted on a Benidorm forum asking if the stag had survived, telling the group how a patron at the bar performed CPR until the paramedics arrived.
One witness replied: ‘It was such a horrible and tragic thing to witness, I’ve never seen anything like it!
‘I can’t stop thinking about him and his wife-to-be, and I’m sure his friends and family said he had a young boy, may he rest in peace.’
A TikToker who happened to be passing the bar at the time of the incident thought a serious crime had taken place after seeing the road closed off and multiple police cars and ambulances.
Unaware of the tragedy unfolding, he captioned the video: ‘Be careful in Benidorm! Lots of police, road closed, and ambulances everywhere… hope everyone is okay!’
He tells his followers: ‘You know something major is going in the ‘Dorm when they’ve shut the road off and they’ve got two ambulances, police cars… holy moly.’
He then gets closer to the bar and sees people crowding around outside.
‘What the smokes is going on? There’s even more police… there must be some form of accident, I hope they’re okay… it doesn’t look very good at all, not very good at all in fact.’
An employee at Funky Flamingo said: ‘The man had a heart attack and fell to the floor and hit his head hard.
‘He started bleeding a lot from the head. They tried to resuscitate him with CPR while the ambulance was coming, but it was unsuccessful.
‘When the ambulance arrived he was already dead. So sad, he was only 28 or 29, on his stag party with his father and friends. Supposed to get married in May.’
The National Police told the Spanish Eye: ‘We can confirm that a man suffered some type of medical problem and died at the scene. He was treated by those present at the premises and then by the paramedics who responded to the call. The medical causes of the death are unknown.’
