Man Fakes Own Death Before Coming In Helicopter To Funeral As Prank

A man faked his own death before making an appearance in a helicopter at his own funeral in a morbid prank.

David Baerten, who goes by the name Ragnar le Fou on TikTok, staged the elaborate prank last week near Liege, Belgium, with the help of his wife and children.

The stunt saw dozens of unsuspecting family members and friends gather for what they believed would be a genuine funeral service.

To convince loved ones of his death, one of Baerten’s daughters posted an emotional tribute on social media.

“Rest in peace, Daddy. I will never stop thinking about you,” she wrote. “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 mourners, dressed in black, waited for the ceremony to begin when a helicopter suddenly landed in a nearby field. Video footage captured the shocking moment Baerten emerged from the aircraft alongside a camera crew.

The footage shows emotional scenes as some relatives ran toward him crying, embracing him in relief, while others stood frozen in disbelief. One attendee wrote: “You had us, I swear to you I was in tears, and after I had the shock bro, we love you very much.”

Baerten later explained his motivations for the extreme prank, saying he felt neglected by his extended family.

“What I see in my family often hurts me. I never get invited to anything. Nobody sees me,” he said. “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 TikToker claimed the stunt had achieved its purpose, noting that relatives who didn’t attend the funeral have since reached out to him.

“That proves who really cares about me,” he said. “Those who didn’t come did contact me to meet up. So in a way, I did win.”

However, during an appearance on French chat show Touche Pas a Mon Poste (TPMP), Baerten admitted he regretted the prank, the Independent reports.

He revealed that his wife had known about the plan from the start and tried to dissuade him.

Perhaps most controversially, Baerten allowed his children to believe he had actually died for ‘a couple of days’ before revealing the truth.

He claimed his film crew insisted he inform his children and sister beforehand, though he maintains they ‘half-knew’ it was a prank.

“As soon as I started receiving messages from people and videos of them crying, I wished I could cancel the whole thing, but it was too late,” Baerten said.

“I asked myself, ‘What have you done?’ but it was too late. I’m sorry to all the people I hurt. I hate hurting people.”