Those attending the recent Leinster funeral of Irish Defence Force veteran Shay Bradley were in for a surprise. As his coffin was being lowered to the ground, mourners could suddenly hear Bradley’s voice booming from the coffin. “Hello, hello, hello, let me out,” he cried against knocking sounds. “Where the fuck am I? Let me out, it’s fucking dark in here. Is that the priest I can hear? This is Shay, I’m in the box.” No, this wasn’t a case of premature burial, but rather a prank recording arranged by Bradley himself. The attendees can be seen giggling while wiping away their tears in the video, which was shared by the Irish Defense Force Veterans .
His daughter Andrea Bradley told The Huffington Post that he recorded this message a year ago while braving what he knew would be a fatal illness. He had only informed his son Jonathon and nephew Ben at the time, but two days before his funeral they shared their father’s final wish with the rest of the family.
“He wanted to make sure my mam would be laughing leaving the cemetery, not crying,” Andrea Bradley said of her dad to HuffPo, noting that her parents were childhood sweethearts and married for 43 years. “And he has done just that.”
According to his daughter, Bradley was a prankster and didn’t want his funeral to end in tears. Let us warn you, though, that that’s exactly what happened. While the pre-recorded message starts off funny, it will soon melt your heart—it ends with Shay, who passed away on Oct 8, singing sweetly “Hello again, hello, I just called to say goodbye.”
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