David Baerten, a 45-year-old Belgian man and a popular TikTok creator, pulled off an astonishing stunt when he pretended to be dead and showed up at his own funeral in a helicopter.
He claimed he did it to teach his family a lesson about staying in touch and appreciating him.
According to The Independent, Baerten’s wife and children were in on the prank and helped him spread the news of his demise on social media.
One of his daughters posted a heartbreaking tribute to her father, saying:
“Rest in peace Daddy. I will never stop thinking about you. Why is life so unfair? Why you? You were going to be a grandfather, and you still had your whole life ahead of you. I love you! We love you! We will never forget you”.
The fake funeral was held near the city of Liege last weekend and was attended by dozens of friends and relatives who wore black and waited for the ceremony to begin.
However, instead of a hearse, they were greeted by a landing helicopter that carried Baerten and a camera crew.
Baerten stepped out of the chopper and said to the stunned crowd: “Cheers to you all, welcome to my funeral” . Some of the mourners were relieved and ran to hug him, while others were confused or angry.
Baerten explained that he felt hurt and ignored by his extended family, who never invited him to anything or kept in touch with him.
He said he wanted to give them a life lesson and show them that they should not wait until someone is dead to meet up with them.
“What I see in my family often hurts me. I never get invited to anything. Nobody sees me. We all grew apart. I felt unappreciated.
“That’s why I wanted to give them a life lesson and show them that you shouldn’t wait until someone is dead to meet up with them.”
He also said that some of his loved ones have reached out to him since the prank and that it “proves who really cares about me. Those who didn’t come, did contact me to meet up. So in a way, I did win” .
Baerten, who has nearly 165,000 followers on TikTok under the name Ragnar le Fou, has posted videos of his prank on his account, where he received mixed reactions from his fans. Some praised him for his creativity and courage, while others criticized him for being insensitive and disrespectful.
What do you think of Baerten’s prank? Was it a clever way to make a point or a cruel joke on his family? Let us know in the comments below.
