TikToker arrives at his own funeral in helicopter after faking his death

A Belgian man has gone viral after shocking guests by arriving at his own funeral in a helicopter – very much alive.

TikToker David Baertan, 45, pulled what he called a “prank” on his friends and family members earlier this month, faking his own death with the help of his wife and kids. Baertan and his family arraigned a funeral near Liege, Belgium after his daughter created a post on Facebook “mourning” her father’s apparent loss, telling him to “rest in peace” and notifying people of his “death.”

Videos of the “funeral” were shared on TikTok by Thomas Faut (@el.tiktokeur2), showing a small crowd gathering as a helicopter hovers for a landing over a grassy field. Confused bystanders look on as the helicopter lands, rushing out onto the grass as they realize that Baertan is the one stepping out of it. A camera crew emerges with him, recording the reunion as one onlooker exclaims: “Wow, he’s really here!” The caption on the video, translated from French, commends Baertan for pulling off the lie and says his family and friends are “happy he is among them.”

In another clip posted on the same account, Baertan can be seen tightly hugging a weeping man, accompanied by a caption reading: "You got us, I swear. I was crying and then after I was shocked. Buddy, we love you very much."

Going viral

While the videos themselves appear to show people happy to see Baretan alive and well, the comments weren’t so forgiving. Many criticized Baretan for “traumatizing” his loved ones for “ego” or “attention,” saying they could never do such a thing to their own friends and family. “Now we know why people don’t like him,” commented one viewer.

Baertan responded to the criticism on his own TikTok channel, explaining that he pulled the stunt to see who truly cared for him.

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“We all grew apart. I felt unappreciated. That’s why I wanted to give them a life lesson,” he says in one, insisting that he grew much closer to his mother through the process of faking his death. While Baertan asks  people not to hold the trick against him in one upload, he gets angry at commenters in later videos, telling them to stop denouncing him when they don’t know the full situation.

While Baertan says only about half of this relatives showed up to the “funeral,” the rest contacted him after the fact, something he says was ultimately a “win.”

Baertan later appeared on French talk show “Touche Pas à Mon Poste” telling the hosts that even his own children did not initially know their father was truly alive and that his wife had discouraged him from following through on the ploy. He admitted regretting the prank, telling hosts that he was “sorry for all the people I hurt.”