Tributes have flooded in for a British groom-to-be who died in front of his father and friends while celebrating his stag do in Benidorm after he collapsed while sitting on a bar stool last month.
Father-of-one Oliver Holroyd, 29, from Halifax, was enjoying drinks at the Funky Flamingo bar on March 22 when tragedy struck.
Bystanders and paramedics worked for over an hour to revive him but he was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
Oliver was due to get married to his fiancée Paige Whiteley next month.
His grief-stricken family, fiancée and friends shared a litany of touching tributes on social media.
Mother Karen wrote: ‘We miss you so so much Oliver Holroyd. Our beautiful boy, life is just unbearable without you, love you to the moon and back kid… Can’t wait until we’re all back together.’
Oliver’s would-be bride Paige added: ‘My Oliver, I can’t believe this is real. This shouldn’t be real. I miss you so so much. My best friend, the father of our gorgeous little boy, the best dog dad ever, my fiancée, my soul mate.
‘Nothing will be the same again but I promise you I will try my best for our little boy. I hope you can see us everyday and I hope I’m making you proud. I’m so sorry this happened to you my darling. I miss you so much.
‘I love you with my whole heart, always and forever. Until I see you again, baby. You’re my Waterloo. Yours forever.’
Paige also shared a link to a JustGiving page where Oliver’s friend Ben Capper is raising money for the Stroke Foundation.
‘I’m running the Leeds marathon in his honour,’ Capper wrote.
Holroyd, 29, from Halifax, was enjoying drinks at the Funky Flamingo bar on March 22 when tragedy struck. Oliver is pictured with his fiancée Paige
British groom-to-be Oliver Holroyd died in front of his father and friends while celebrating his stag do in Benidorm
Bar manager Gaston Luciano told MailOnline how several people tried to help the stricken Briton after he collapsed at the Funky Flamingo.
‘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 Oliver’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.’
Argentinian father-of-two Gaston 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 Oliver had consumed narcotics prior to his death.
Holidaymaker Tracey Pilling happened to be walking by the bar when the incident unfolded.
She told MailOnline: ‘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 tourist had posted on a Benidorm forum asking if the groom 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.’
The tragedy unfolded at the Funky Flamingo bar, seen in this general picture
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.’
Another 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.’
