Snake-Handling Preacher Dies from Rattlesnake Bite in West Virginia

in Animal News

West Virginia preacher Mark Randall “Mack” Wolford, who believed Christians should handle snakes to test their faith, died after a rattlesnake bit him over the weekend. Wolford was bitten on the thigh about 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, but he didn’t come to the hospital until 10:30 p.m., a nursing supervisor at Bluefield Regional Medical Center told the Charleston Daily Mail. The incident occurred during an outdoor service at Panther State Forest, about 80 miles west of Bluefield in southern West Virginia, the paper said. Wolford had turned 44 on Saturday. He had seen his father die of a snakebite when he was teenager, the Daily Mail reported.

Link: msnbc.com

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