Ragnar le Fou: Belgian man fakes death and gatecrashes his own funeral in TikTok prank

A Belgian man has shared video footage on TikTok of him faking his own death to give his family a "life lesson" about keeping in contact with each other.

David Baerten, who goes by the online alias Ragnar le Fou, arrived at the staged ceremony, near the city of Liege, via helicopter, stunning family members and friends.

He carried out the prank last weekend with his wife and children, one of whom posted a tribute to their supposed dead father on the social media platform.

The 45-year-old's daughter captioned a post with "rest in peace Daddy", adding: "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."

Video footage from the day of the funeral shows Baerton flying in on a black helicopter and landing in a nearby field.

As he gets out, some of the gathered mourners rush to greet Baerton, while others look on in astonishment.

The video has attracted widespread criticism and led to Baerton releasing a separate video, where he explains his actions.

He said: "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."

Baerton added that although "only half of my family came to the funeral" he has since been contacted by other relatives.

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