Snake-handling pastor dies after rattler bites him during service

[Karee 4,191]

MIDDLESBORO, Ky. — Jamie Coots, a snake-handling Kentucky pastor who appeared on the National Geographic television reality show “Snake Salvation,” died Saturday after being bitten by a snake.

Coots was handling a rattlesnake during a Saturday night service at his Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name Church in Middlesboro when he was bit, another preacher, Cody Winn, told WBIR-TV.

“Jamie went across the floor. He had one of the rattlers in his hand, he came over and he was standing beside me. It was plain view, it just turned its head and bit him in the back of the hand … within a second,” Winn said.

When an ambulance arrived at the church at 8:30 p.m., they were told Coots had gone home, the Middlesboro Police Department said in a news release. Contacted at his house, Coots refused medical treatment.

Emergency workers left about 9:10 p.m. When they returned about an hour later, Coots was dead, police said.

In January 2013, Coots was caught transporting three rattlesnakes and two copperheads through Knoxville, Tenn. Wildlife officials confiscated the snakes, and Coots pleaded guilty to illegal wildlife possession. He was given one year of unsupervised probation.

Coots said then he needed the snakes for religious reasons, citing a Bible passage in the book of Mark that reads, in part: “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Coots said he took the passage at face value.

“We literally believe they want us to take up snakes,” Coots told The Associated Press in February 2013. “We’ve been serpent handling for the past 20 or 21 years.”

After he was bitten Saturday night, Coots dropped the snakes, but then picked them back up and continued on. Within minutes, Winn said, Coots headed to the bathroom.

His son, Cody, told the television station his dad had been bitten eight times before but had never had such a severe reaction. Cody Coots said he thought the bite would be just like all the others.

“We’re going to go home, he’s going to lay on the couch, he’s going to hurt, he’s going to pray for a while and he’s going to get better,” Cody Coots said. "That’s what happened every other time, except this time was just so quick and it was crazy, it was really crazy."

National Geographic said in a statement that it had been struck by Coots’ “devout religious convictions despite the health and legal peril he often faced.”

“Those risks were always worth it to him and his congregants as a means to demonstrate their unwavering faith,” the statement said. “We were honored to be allowed such unique access to pastor Jamie and his congregation during the course of our show, and give context to his method of worship.”

In 1995, 28-year-old Melinda Brown, of Parrottsville, Tenn., died after being bitten at Coots' church by a 4-foot-long timber rattlesnake. Her relatives disputed accounts that the mother of five had been holding the snake that bit her and disagreed with witnesses who said she refused medical treatment as she suffered the effects of the venom for two days at Coots’ home.

The Bell County attorney at the time wanted to prosecute under a 1942 state law that made it illegal to handle or display snakes during religious services. But the judge refused to sign the criminal complaint.

“If the court thought that a trial would act to deter future snake handling in church, my decision would be different,” Bell District Judge James Bowling Jr. wrote to the county attorney. “But you and I both know that this practice is not going to stop until either rattlesnakes or snake handlers become extinct.”

Source:

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20140216-snake-handling-pastor-dies-after-rattler-bites-him-during-service.ece

[Pooky 3,840]

Well, I guess this particular snake handler just became extinct.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

That's a bit over the top, using snakes at his services. Unless he was using them to demonstrate John the Baptist when he said to the Pharisees and Sadducees, "You brood of vipers".

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Something tells me there won't be any more snakes at this church. Rest in peace.

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

Actually the whole church are handlers so the tradition will go on

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Actually the whole church are handlers so the tradition will go on

Hope they take the proper precautions, if there are any for snake handling.

[GandD 5,966]

Yeah, there is nothing going on in that part of ky, I mean nothing.

[luckytxn 2,265]

I couldn't imagine. Seen youtube vids that showed their services. Nuts.

That's for dam sure.

Yeah, there is nothing going on in that part of ky, I mean nothing.

[ready4ONE 5,400]

Darwin.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

That was a good show.

Hope they take the proper precautions, if there are any for snake handling.

The point is to take no precautions. They drink posion also

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

They are normally very careful until they get taken by the spirit

[Operator 1,927]

This is still practiced in the mountain counties here in NC. People get bit all the time but it gets little news.

I guess laying on the couch to pray wasn't as good as the antivenin at the hospital.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Something tells me there won't be any more snakes at this church. Rest in peace.

It will not slow them down

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_bite

http://www.snakesandspiders.com/dry-snake-bite/

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0LEVzafdQJTiGgA_5dXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEza2ZwZzUzBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA1ZJUDI4MF8x?qid=20130123172636AAxriQE

OOPs. Forgot to milk that one first. Growing up in West Texas where we saw rattlers every day in warm weather and tried not to handle them, this topic was pretty well covered at home and in school. One of the perplexing things for medical professionals was always being able to tell if the bite were "dry" before proceeding with treatment. Though it was usually obvious by the time one reached medical care, not always. The prescribed procedure was to ice it down and head for the hospital ASAP. Localized swelling, inflamation and severe pain were pretty good indicators the bite was not dry.

Death from viper (hemotoxin) snakes is fairly rare anyway.

It is also possible the man developed an allergy to the venom. Just as a person can to bee stings. Probably best not to play with the things.