In an effort to teach a “life lesson” about maintaining communication, a Belgian TikToker faked his own death and subsequently surprised his family by appearing at his own funeral.
According to The Times U.K., David Baerten, also known as Ragnar le Fou on social media, created the idea after feeling disheartened by the brokenness within his family.
“What I see in my family often hurts me,” he said. “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.”
Baerten was able to pull off his plan with the help of his children and wife. Prior to the service, one of Baerten’s daughters wrote on the app, “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.”
Baerten later pulled up to his funeral service on a helicopter, saying, “Cheers to you all. Welcome to my funeral.”
Baerten embraced certain relatives while others appeared bewildered by his stunt. In response to criticism, he seemingly remarked, “Only half of my family attended the funeral.”
“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.”
Nevertheless, Baerten received some backlash on the app for his “pathetic stunt.” Meanwhile, understood the message that he was trying to convey.
