45-year-old fakes death, later shows up at his funeral

A 45-year-old man faked his death and showed up at his own funeral. Many attendees were in shock after this prank.

A 45-year-old man faked his death and later showed up at his own funeral by jumping out of a helicopter. Yes, you read that right. David Baerten, a TikToker from Belgium, along with his family decided to play this prank on their friends and relatives to test who genuinely cared about him.

Man fakes his own death. (Unsplash)

One of Baerten's daughters used social media to announce her father's 'death' and spread the news. Many friends and family members dressed in black attended a staged funeral near the city of Liege in Belgium. They waited for the ceremony to begin, only to be shocked when Baerten emerged from a helicopter, reports The New York Post. A video of this prank was shared on TikTok.

As Baerten exited the helicopter, some people were happy to see him alive, while others were confused by the situation. Some were even unhappy with the prank, which led Baerten to respond to criticism from certain funeral attendees. He explained that he had done it because he was unhappy with the way his family and friends had been treating him.

“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 Post.