Russian Man Stages Own Death Before Proposing to Girlfriend

Sept. 5, 2012 — -- The nuptials promise of "till death us do part" got an intriguing twist in the Russian city of Omsk when a woman received an elaborate marriage proposal from her boyfriend, who she thought had just died.

Irena Kolokov was caught off guard when she turned up to meet her boyfriend, Alexey Bykov, 30, but found what appeared to be a horrific car accident when she arrived.

Little did Kolokov know when she arranged to meet Bykov at a pre-determined location in the southwestern Siberian city that she was about to have one of the most horrifying -- and then happiest -- moments of her life.

"We'd arranged to meet at a certain place, but when I arrived there were mangled cars everywhere, ambulances, smoke, and carnage," Kolokov told Orange News.

In a video posted on Russia's Life News, Bykov is seen walking away from the ambulance at the scene.

"When I saw Alexey covered in blood lying in the road, a paramedic told me he was dead, and I just broke down in tears," she said.

Horrified, she walked away, sobbing. Meanwhile, Bykov emerged from the ambulance behind her, giggling and holding flowers and a single golden mylar balloon.

His face covered in fake blood and his head wrapped in gauze, Bykov ran up to his love, who was so distraught that when her boyfriend approached her she shoved him off while crying uncontrollably.

Even when the sparklers went off in the background, Kolokov still had no clue that she'd been had.

It took some close consoling before she was calm enough for Bykov to get down on bended knee and ask her to be his wife. Luckily for Bykov, once her nerves had settled, Kolokov saw the humor in the prank, and decided to say yes.

"I was so cross, I almost killed him again, but for real this time," she said.

Once Kolokov agreed to be his bride, the happy couple got applause from onlookers, and Bykov released the golden balloon into the air.

To stage the entire event, Bykov hired a film director, a script writer, stuntmen, and make-up artists to make his proposal one of the most truly memorable moments of Kolokov's life.

"I wanted her to realize how empty her life would be without me and how life would have no meaning without me. I think it worked," he said. "But I promise it's the last time."

The couple was married last week, Orange News reported.