Two parents were lost for words when their son, who they had believed to be dead for six months, called them up out of the blue.
In a jaw-dropping admission on New Zealand’s ZM Radio show, a man named Callum shared how his sisters convinced their parents he had died.
Callum called into a segment asking if anyone had ever been mistakenly declared dead.
He started: “Yes, I definitely have been presumed dead, mate. My sisters were in a bit of a tiff with my parents at the time and they weren't really getting along. I was living in Wellington while they were in Christchurch. My older sister actually called my parents up and told them that I had died.”
He continued that his sisters also claimed that his ex-girlfriend’s parents didn’t want them at his funeral, adding another layer to the family betrayal.
When asked why his parents didn’t question the claim, Callum said: “They were kinda like running around calling our other family seeing if they had heard anything, from what I was told. Then they didn't really know anything to go off so my parents just kind of presumed 'yeah he died'.”
Months went by before Callum noticed something wrong.
He said: “I was just busy with life and work and then I was like wait — I haven't heard from my parents in a while, I wonder what's going on?
"And I gave them a call up and my mum and dad are like, 'You're alive?' My mum was absolutely in tears and my dad was just kind of gobsmacked — he was just like 'what the f*** is going on?'”
Then came the most chilling detail that his sister had actually told his parents that he had been stabbed to death.
"Wait, wait, wait, you were murdered?" one of the incredulous hosts asked. "You're not dead in an accident by your own hand, someone murdered you! This is the wildest phone call we've ever had. Were you the sort of person who would have been stabbed?’”
Without skipping a beat, Callum replied with a laugh: “I was not in some gangs but I will say, at that point in time, it wouldn't have been unpeculiar for me to get stabbed.”
When Callum finally returned home, his parents were “over the moon” to learn he was alive. The confusion cleared, but relationships did not heal. Callum confirmed that he and his parents now keep their distance from his sisters.