In a bizarre incident, a 45-year-old Belgian man faked his death and later showed up at his own funeral in a helicopter to teach his extended family a lesson. David Baerten, who is a TikToker, along with his family decided to play this prank on their relatives to test who genuinely cared about him. Baerten, known on TikTok as Ragnar le Fou, said he faked his death as he felt 'unappreciated' by his relatives and teach them the importance of staying in touch with one another.
To spread the news of Baerten’s "death" one of his children took to social media and wrote a tribute to her father.
“Rest in peace, Daddy. I will never stop thinking about you,” the daughter wrote, according to The New York Post. "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 held near the city of Liege in Belgium last weekend, was attended by dozens of friends and family members. As the family members wearing black waited for the ceremony to begin, Baerten emerged from a helicopter surprising everyone.
As Baerten exited the helicopter, some people rushed towards him and hugged him, while others were confused by the situation. Some funeral attendees were not happy with the prank leading Baerten to explain the reason for doing such an act.
“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,” said Baerten to The New York.