Baltazar Lemos, a funeral officiant living in Curitiba, the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná, has conducted hundreds of funerals.
According to the "Daily Mail" local time on January 27, the 60-year-old Baltazar had a whim one day and wanted to test family and friendship with a prank, pretending to be dead and then holding a funeral to see who could attend.
But what he didn't expect was that although there were many participants, it ended in a "tragedy" ...
According to Baltazar's own account, he had the idea of a "prank funeral" because he witnessed a funeral in which only two mourners appeared, which made him feel very pitiful, and then thought about his place in the hearts of others, and then decided to test his relatives and friends. "I had this idea five months ago. I want it to look like I'm really dead. People interpret it in their own way. In fact, I wonder who will come to see me for the last time."
Baltazar took great pains, first sharing a photo of him on social media, saying that he was "praying with everyone and expecting good news", and the background of the photo is also easy to detect, he has been admitted to the "Albert Einstein Hospital" in São Paulo (where the "ball king" Bailey died), and it can be felt from the words that his condition is not optimistic, and he seems to want everyone to prepare for the worst.
The next day he made another post that read, "At the beginning of this sad afternoon, Baltazar Lemos left us. More information coming soon".
His family was so frightened that his panicked nephew ran to the hospital to ask about his uncle, but because Baltazar was not actually admitted, the hospital did not know that he was such a person.
Social media was also full of skepticism, demanding more information, but only to see the details of the vigil and funeral that followed, so everyone, including his 80-something mother, who was in a wheelchair, went to a local chapel to attend the ceremony.
And when the funeral was going on, Baltazar's voice came out of the loudspeakers to thank the relatives, and the first reaction was excitement, thinking that it had been recorded in advance.
Then Baltazar appeared "dramatically," telling those present that it was nothing more than a prank.
Baltazar, who had been expecting his relatives and friends to laugh, was reprimanded by everyone, violently criticizing him for being "too cruel." A friend said: "I've known him for over 20 years, but I find this story scary. The first day I was sad, the second day I was indignant." Another friend said bluntly: "When I knew the truth, he really died, which is really hard to accept".
"I did not intend to hurt, offend or cause any harm to anyone. I apologize to these people from the bottom of my heart," Baltazar said after discovering that his mischief had turned into a tragedy.
Baltazar's affair has also sparked a heated discussion on the Internet, with most people feeling that he has "overplayed" and "ironically, if he really dies now, it is likely that no one will come".