A man faked his own death and turned up to his own funeral in a helicopter as part of an elaborate life lesson for his family.
David Baerten, from Belgium, wanted to encourage his nearest and dearest to stay in touch with each other a little bit better. So the 45-year-old TikToker enlisted his wife and children for an elaborate stunt.
One of his daughters helped to convince his followers in what many have now branded a “cruel joke”. The youngster wrote: ‘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.”
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David’s family then held a funeral to honour his life. It took place near Liege.
However, mourners who turned up to pay their respects had quite a shock when David arrived in a helicopter. The content creator, who goes by Ragnar le Fou online, made a grand entrance with a film crew by helicopter.
The stunt has however faced an online backlash, the Daily Mail reports. He has since explained he did the prank because his family had fallen out of contact with him.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “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.”
The full video of the arrival has not yet been released. But one funeral attendee shared clips online.
After realising he was alive, it shows many rushing over to greet David. Friend Thomas Faut, who shared the video, captioned it with “you got us”.
Since the video hit the web, David revealed relatives who did not attend his funeral have reached out. He says this “proved who really cared,” labelling the stunt a “win”.
