A snake-handling preacher who appeared on reality TV has died after being bitten by a viper. Pastor Jamie Coots, who starred in Snake Salvation, suffered the wound on his right hand at his church in Middlesborough, Kentucky. Coots, whose exploits were shown on the National Geographic channel, believed a viper’s bite was God’s will. He said in one episode: “When I first started church I said if I ever went to a hospital or a doctor over a snake bite I would quit church.” He refused all medical treatment as the venom took hold on Saturday, police said. Coots had suffered excruciating bites from rattlesnakes twice in the 1990s but survived, though the end of one finger turned purple and eventually fell off. Snake handlers believe they are following a Biblical command in picking up snakes. Source
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