Alabama man dies 3 days after copperhead snake bite at Smith Lake

Updated May 30, 2019; Posted May 28, 2019

By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

A Tuscaloosa husband, father, son and brother died Monday, three days after he was bitten by a copperhead snake at the family’s Smith Lake home. ... Oliver “Chum” Baker, 52, was pronounced dead at a Huntsville hospital. He leaves behind a large, close-knit family including his wife, Marilou Briney Baker, and sons Charlie, who just graduated from high school, and 12-year-old Walden. Baker grew up in the Birmingham area.
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The family had gathered at the lake home for the long holiday weekend. Baker was outside on the stone patio walking his new lab puppy when he alerted family members that he had been bitten by a copperhead. The snake was still coiled up outside the back door.

Within minutes, Baker fell unconscious. A relative gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until paramedics arrived. They drove to a nearby school so that he could be airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, but he was not stable enough to fly.

The paramedics then took him by ambulance to a Jasper hospital, and eventually he was airlifted to Huntsville. Family said Baker suffered a severe allergic reaction to the snake’s venom which caused anaphylactic shock and ultimately cardiac arrest. Baker never regained consciousness.
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