45-year-old TikToker David Baeren and his wife and children decided to prank their loved ones by faking Baeren’s death in Belgium and posting it on the social media platform.
The prank began with Baeren's daughter posting on social media that he had died.
“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 fake funeral
The TikTokers then took the prank further last weekend, when they hosted a funeral for Baeren.
@el.tiktokeur2 Tu nous as eu on t aime mon ami on est content que tu es parmis nous ❤️❤️#pourtoii #fyp #fypシ @Ragnar_le_fou ♬ son original - Thomas faut
The funeral, which had been attended by dozens of loved ones in mourning, was interrupted by the living Baeren who flew in by helicopter.
Baeren descended while yelling “Cheers to you all, welcome to my funeral”.
Reactions to Baeren’s unexpected entrance
Some funeral attendees, relieved that Baeren was still alive, dashed to greet him and hug him. Other funeral attendees were a little more confused and remained waiting for an explanation.
@el.tiktokeur2 Tu nous a eu je te le jure j etais en pleure moi et apres j ai eu le choc poto on t aime beaucoup ❤️@Ragnar_le_fou @Leclercq Philippe #fyp #pourtoii #fypシ ♬ son original - Thomas faut
“You had us. We love you, my friend. We are happy that you are among us,” Thomas Faut wrote in the caption of one of the videos he shared on his TikTok account el.tiktokeur2.
Many of the attendees were less than pleased with the entire ordeal.
Why did Baeren fake his death?
Baeren claimed that his intentions for the prank were pure, he wanted to bring his family together.
“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,” Baeren said, according to the New York Post. “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.”
“It proves who really cares about me. Those who didn’t come did contact me to meet up. So in a way, I did win,” he added.