"Snake Salvation" Pastor Dies After Suffering Snake Bite

A Kentucky pastor who was featured on the National Geographic program Snake Salvation died yesterday of a snake bite.

NBC affiliate WBIR reports that Pastor Jamie Coots, one of the Pentecostal preachers who believe it is their divine obligation to handle snakes, was found dead in his home after a snake he was holding in his Middleboro, Ky. church, Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name, bit him.

Middleboro Police Chief Jeff Sharpe told WBIR that Coots left the church before medics arrived, then refused medical attention at his home. He died about an hour later.

[via WBIR]