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This Man Is Being Buried Alive To Bring Hope To People

This Man Is Being Buried Alive To Bring Hope To People

Both feet in the grave.

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay

I had a huge fear of being buried alive in a coffin as a child, so much so that I used to sleep on the landing as my bed was too much like the shape of a coffin. So I can't imagine why this Dubliner wants to be buried alive for three days!

John Edwards is a reformed drug addict and alcoholic - it's been a while - his heydey for the sesh was in the 1960s. He's been sober for more than 20 years and wants to reach out to those who are in despair.

So he has volunteered to lie in a coffin that is being sealed and buried in the grounds of an east Belfast church.

And that's not all - it's a special coffin that he can broadcast live from the grave with the #gravechat.

Take a look at him chatting in a coffin here!

Credit: Alan Lewis

There are so many questions to ask. First of all, what does he mean he"volunteered"? I'm sure the church didn't coerce him to get him into the coffin but that makes it sound like they were asking people to do it and he put his hand up.

Second of all - how is broadcasting from a grave going to help anyone?

Credit: Alan Lewis

Edwards set up a few Christian rehabilitation centres and homeless shelters since having "an incredible encounter with God" almost 30 years ago. He's lost more than 20 of his friends to addiction and suicide and wants to help people.

He's going to be spending three days in the coffin to give a message of hope.

He's taking calls, texts and emails from members of the public asking for help.

His wife helps prepare the grave. Credit: Alan Lewis

"My plan is to speak to them from the grave before they get there and show them hope," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

"When the lid is closed and you're underground, and you hear the soil getting thrown on top of the coffin... it is freaky," he admitted.

It's not your average coffin - it's much bigger. It's 8ft long, 3.5ft high and 4ft wide, so he can sit up quite comfortably. It's got a toilet in it too. The less said on that the better. And it also has access to air - and a couple of tubes so people can put food and water to him.

It's not the first time he's been buried alive. He tried it out in Halifax last year. He says it's a "bit of a gimmick" but he's desperate to reach as many people as possible.

Buried Alive

People used to be buried alive all the time. It sounds crazy but if someone just looked dead, they weren't very good at checking. They used to hold a mirror up to someone's face to see if they were breathing - it's really not that difficult to tell if someone is breathing or not.

But people rarely get buried alive these days - apart from this man in Brazil! A woman was visiting the grave of her relative when she saw the earth moving on a recent grave and went and got help! The man emerged from the grave, a bit worse for wear, and went to hospital to recover.

Scary stuff!

Featured Image Credit: Pacemaker