WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT Jamie Coots, from Kentucky in the US, was convinced serpents wouldn’t harm believers as long as they are anointed by God. His unshakeable faith stemmed from one passage in the Bible
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 seeing others die from bites during services, Coots was convinced he had to take up snakes and follow his faith.
His belief 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 eventually 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 gone home.
He was contacted at his house 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 Coots had been bitten eight times before but had always pulled through. 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.” Back in February 2013, Coots was given one year of probation for crossing into Tennessee with venomous snakes, and arrested in 2008 for keeping 74 snakes in his house. Professor Ralph Hood, of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, said his death would only inspire more people to pursue 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.
“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 snake-handling tradition also takes place in West Virginia and dates back more than 100 years. Pastors are typically highly secretive about it and do not let outsiders into their services.