WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Jamie Coots took up poisonous snakes as part of his faith
Snake handling pastor Jamie Coots (Image: NatgeoTV)
A snake-handling pastor who praised the serpents on reality TV died after a bite from a rattlesnake - and refusing treatment.
Jamie Coots, from Kentucky in the US, starred in National Geographic's "Snake Salvation" and said the serpents wouldn't harm believers as long as they are anointed by God. The 42-year-old would handle all kinds of poisonous snakes, including copperheads, rattlers and cottonmouths.
Even after losing half a finger and witnessing others die from bites during services, Coots remained convinced he had to take up snakes and follow his faith.
His conviction was rooted in a passage in Mark's gospel which reads: "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."
It ultimately proved his undoing in February 2014, when Coots was bitten on the hand by a rattlesnake during a service at his church. An ambulance rushed to the scene, but paramedics were told that Coots had already left for home, reports <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/snake-handling-pastor-killed-rattlesnake-36234597" rel="Follow" target="_self">the Mirror</a>.
Jamie Coots handling a snake (Image: CNN)
He was contacted at his home but he remained steadfast in his faith. Emergency services returned in the evening, at which point he was pronounced dead.
Fellow preacher Cody Winn said Coots had dropped the snake but then picked it up again. He explained: "He had one of the rattlers in his hand. It just turned its head and bit him in the back of the hand... within a second."
His son Cody said his father had survived eight previous bites but had always recovered.
Pastor Jamie Coots appeared on reality TV (Image: Natgeotv.com)
He told local media: "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. That's what happened every other time, except this time was just so quick and it was crazy."
In February 2013, Coots received one year of probation for transporting venomous snakes into Tennessee, and was arrested in 2008 for keeping 74 snakes at his residence. Professor Ralph Hood, of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, suggested his death would only encourage more people to adopt the practice.
The friend of Coots said: "This won't stop them: just the opposite. They will continue, and praise Jamie Coots as a martyr who died for his faith."
Following the incident, National Geographic spokeswoman Stephanie Montgomery paid tribute to Coots.
She said in a statement: "In following Pastor Coots for our series Snake Salvation, we were constantly struck by his devout religious convictions despite the health and legal peril he often faced.
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Snake handling pastor's son, Cody (Image: CNN)
"Those risks were always worth it to him and his congregants as a means to demonstrate their unwavering faith. 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. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time."
The secretive tradition of snake-handling, dating back over a century, is also observed in West Virginia. The pastors who conduct these services are usually quite guarded and do not permit outsiders to attend.
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