John Edwards, a pensioner in Northern Ireland, is to spend three days buried alive inside a coffin under the streets of Belfast.

However, he will be live streaming it on Facebook and will talk to friends and family via phone calls and Skype.

According to The Sun UK, John Edwards was locked in a casket and had soil dumped on top of it on Wednesday as he began three days of living underground to raise awareness of those suffering from addiction and depression for the charity Walking Free.

The former addict will have all the mod cons, including broadband internet – allowing him live stream advice to addicts from inside his underground coffin outside Willowfield Parish Church in the east of the city.

He told Belfast Live: “I’m a former addict and I’ve been clean and sober for 25 years.

“I’m making a very large coffin, I’m burying it in East Belfast and I’m going to live in it for three days.”

“I know this is a radical move but people are continually contacting me who are either suicidal or who know friends or family who are,” he told Belfast Live .

“My plan is to speak to them from the grave before they get there and show them hope.”



The coffin, big enough for John to sit up and lie down in, has been kitted out with electrics and broadband.

He plans to live stream his experience on Facebook Live and on Walking Free’s website, and will also take calls, emails, Skype and texts from people around the world.

The committed Christian has been happily married to wife, Trish for 20 years.

Speaking to the website, local rector David McClay added: “John is going into the coffin on Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent. The season of Lent is one when Christians talk about dying to ourselves.

“But the message from the grave is one of hope – hope for those who are struggling with addictions, hope for those who feel life is hopeless, and hope of life that is eternal.

“John knows that he is going to be buried on March 1. The rest of us don’t know when we will be buried, when our lives will end – but for every Christian there is the confident hope of life forever because of what Jesus has won for us on the cross.

“He did it so that we don’t have to pay the price for our sin and guilt. John Edwards demonstrates the amazing transformation that Jesus can bring to our lives. I invite you to join in the live streaming of this event and hear for yourself.”