Man fakes death and shows up in helicopter at funeral to prank family | world news
A father faked his own death and then dramatically arrived at the funeral in a helicopter to teach his family “a life lesson”.
David Baerten staged an extraordinary prank in Belgium to see how his loved ones would react after his death.
The 45-year-old TikTok creator claimed he wanted to perform the elaborate stunt because he had lost touch with his extended family.
He sought the help of his wife and children, who agreed to his plan – and his daughter even posted a fake tribute to her father on social media.
Ahead of the fun funeral near Liege last weekend, she wrote: “Rest in peace dad.” I will never stop thinking about you.
“Why is life so unfair? Why you? You wanted 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.’
Mr Baerten, who is known online as Ragnar le Fou and has 162,000 followers on TikTok, arrived at the funeral in a helicopter with a film crew.
He said, “What I see in my family often hurts me.” I’m never invited to anything.
“Nobody sees me. We’ve all grown apart. I didn’t feel valued.
“So I wanted to teach them a life lesson and show them that you shouldn’t wait until someone’s dead to meet up with them.”
Another TikTok user who was in attendance shared video of the helicopter landing in a field before Mr Baerten disembarks and is greeted by relatives who hug him.
The prank drew harsh criticism from many social media users, who called it a “cruel joke” and “pathetic.”
But Mr Baerten says it “proves who really cares about me”, despite the backlash he has faced, reports The Times.
He said “only half of my family came for the funeral,” but other relatives have since reached out to him.
He added, “Those who didn’t come contacted me to meet up.” “So in a way, I won.”
His friend Thomas Faut released footage of the two hugging after Mr Baerten revealed he was still alive and admitted: “You got us.”
Mr Faut said: “I swear I cried and then I had the shock mate we love you very much.”
Last week a woman was pronounced dead at the hospital and placed in a coffin, but later woke up and tapped the inside of the lid to show people she was indeed alive.
Contact our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, Check out our news page.