Damo Cooper Sheffield: Family's tribute to 'big, gentle giant' after tragic heart attack in Handsworth Asda

The family of a "gentle giant" pub manager from Sheffield have paid tribute to him and thanked supermarket staff for their help after his sudden death in a local supermarket.

Damo Cooper sadly died aged 33 after suffering a heart attack in the Asda supermarket in Handsworth, Sheffield on January 14, 2024. He was the manager of The Strad pub in Stradbroke and a popular face in his community.

"He was just a big, gentle giant," Damo's stepdad, Mark Mason, told The Star.

"He was a nice kid and didn't have anything bad to say about anybody," he added.

"It was his lifelong dream to be a pub landlord, he was the licensee... He had gone to Asda to get food for the fishing club, that's why he was there."

Damo's family contacted The Star after his funeral, hoping to make everyone aware of what Asda staff had done for him.

Mark said: "Thank you for everything you did... They were doing CPR on him and we knew he wasn't alone... Someone held his hand while he was dying.

"They raised £1,000 towards his funeral. They didn't go to work expecting to do something like that.

"Supermarket staff get grief and they don't get the recognition they deserve. It just shows the humanity for me."

Mark told The Star his stepson sadly died after suffering a heart attack.

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He added: "When he was five he got knocked down [by a vehicle] and he was lucky to survive that. They said he'd struggle later in life with arthritis.

"He'd been having pain which he had put down to the arthritis, but was actually a blood clot."

After Damo collapsed in the supermarket, South Yorkshire Police told The Star it had been a "sudden death" with no suspicious circumstances. Emergency services worked at the scene for more than 40 minutes, before Damo was sadly pronounced dead.