Oliver ‘Chum’ Baker dead: Alabama dad of two fatally succumbs to severe allergic reactions to copperhead snake bite at Smith Lake home.
An Alabama father of two has died after being bitten by a copperhead snake while walking his puppy dog at his family home near a lake over the weekend.
Come Monday, Oliver ‘Chum’ Baker, 52, was pronounced dead at a hospital in Huntsville.
He is survived by his wife, Marilou Briney Baker, and their two sons – Charlie and Walden.
Baker, a native of Tuscaloosa, and his family were at their lakeside home on Smith Lake for the holiday weekend when he sustained the snake bite on Friday.
AL.com reported Baker having gone outside to walk his Labrador puppy only to be bitten while on the patio.
Baker then informed family members he’d just been bitten before falling unconscious a few moments later.
A regards of the family home revealed the copperhead snake still coiled up outside a back door.
Baker was driven to a nearby school. From there, he was airlifted to Huntsville.
Oliver ‘Chum’ Baker fatally succumbs to severe allergic reactions to copperhead snake bite:
His family said Baker had a severe allergic reaction to the snake’s venom, which led to anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest.
‘It was a whole chain of events,’ his brother, Reb Baker, 45, told via AL.com.
‘His organs just couldn’t recover.’
Reb said his brother was well-liked because he ‘never met a stranger.’
‘He would go way out of his way to help everybody,’ he said.
‘He never wanted accolades. Everybody loved him. It’s just unbelievable.’
A GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign has been launched to help his family shoulder the financial burden of losing Baker.
Copperhead snakes are venomous snakes and can be dangerous. They come in light tan or light brown shades and have hourglass-shaped crossbands.
The copperhead is located in the eastern United States stretching from Connecticut to Texas.
A copperhead bite can be extremely painful but is not usually fatal.
