Snake Handling Son of 'Snake Salvation' Pastor Bitten: 'I Told the Lord I Wouldn't Go to the Hospital,' Cody Coots Says
Cody Coots, son of "Snake Salvation" pastor Jamie Coots, was bitten by a 6-foot rattlesnake on Monday. He refused treatment, like his father, but is doing well now and will continue to handle the snakes, trusting God to protect him.
"All I could think about – am I going to make it?" Cody told the Lexington Herald-Leader.
The bite caused Cody's hand to swell and him to vomit, but he refused to go to the hospital. He refused medical treatment from an ambulance crew and asked for prayer from congregants. By the next day, Cody said, the pain was gone and he was feeling much better.
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"For a rattler bite, it wasn't bad at all. I told the Lord that I wouldn't go to the hospital. If the Lord moves, we'll handle 'em," Cody said. "It's the word of the Lord."
Cody previously told TMZ that he would refuse medical treatment if bitten, despite the fact that he watched his father die from a snake bite. But he also told the Lexington Herald-Leader that he would go to the hospital if his wife gave approval while he was unconscious.
"I will lay right there and say to everyone, 'It's God's will,'" Cody said. "It's good enough to live by and good enough to die by."
Jamie, his father, died three months ago while handling three venomous snakes in a service. After the bite, he went to the bathroom, mumbled "Sweet Jesus" and went home. Congregants prayed over him while he lay in his bed at home. An ambulance crew was turned away, but the venom overcame Jamie's body, and he was pronounced dead 90 minutes after he was bitten.
Andrew Hamblin, another snake handler, is familiar with Jamie and Cody's stories and passion for handling the creatures. He told the Herald-Leader that after Cody was bitten, he called for people to pray for him and asked for an ambulance just so he could formally refuse treatment.
"The Lord really come by in that house," Hamblin said.
