On his first day of freedom after a grueling five months in an Egyptian jail, Queens native Ilan Grapel got his cruelest punishment — being told the Mets won the 2011 World Series.

Grapel, expected to fly home to Queens today from Israel, was celebrating his release at a press conference in Tel Aviv, flanked by his mother Irene and Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens), when he was pranked.

– Andy Soltis, N.Y. Post.

Wait, that really happened? This dude just got out of Egyptian jail and people just immediately start messing with him?

That’s like waking up from a coma to have someone like, “Good news, Jim! Your dog’s coming to see you. Just kidding: He’s dead.”

It’s not even a good prank. A good prank would be convincing the guy that in the five months he was in jail, the entire borough of Queens suffered from an epidemic that turned half its population into flesh-starved zombies, then having his dad come surging toward him in zombie makeup when he lands at Laguardia.

Actually that might be going too far.