Alabama Man Killed By A Copperhead Snake Bite After Walking His Dog

An Alabama man and father-of-two died on Monday after being bitten by a venomous copperhead snake at the family's home in Smith Lake.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, Oliver “Chum” Baker, 52, and his family, which includes his wife Marilou and sons Charlie and Walden, headed to their lake house. While there, Baker walked their new labrador puppy. After returning home, he let his family know a copperhead snake had bitten him.

Minutes later, Baker fell unconscious after the snake’s venom caused a severe allergic reaction, which led to anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest, reports Alabama.com. A relative gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until paramedics arrived. He never regained consciousness.

Though he was supposed to be airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, he was not stable enough to fly and was taken instead to a local hospital before later airlifting him to Huntsville. Baker died three days after the incident at a Huntsville hospital.

“He would go way out of his way to help everybody,” his brother, Reb Baker, said. “He never wanted accolades. Everybody loved him. It’s just unbelievable.”

He added, “It was a whole chain of events. His organs just couldn’t recover.”