A Kentucky snake-handling preacher who appeared in a television show about the religious practice has died of a snakebite after refusing medical treatment…

Jamie Coots was found dead about 10pm local time on Saturday at his house in Middlesboro, Kentucky, according to Middlesboro police chief Jeff Sharpe.

Emergency personnel had gone to his home about 90 minutes earlier after getting a call, police said. They found Coots suffering from a snakebite wound to his right hand, Sharpe said in a statement.

“After examination and discussion of possible dangers if the wound was not treated, treatment and transport to the hospital was refused,” the statement said.

The emergency responders left after failing to persuade Coots to get help but returned less than an hour later, the statement said.

They “discovered Mr Coots had passed away, apparently due to a venomous snakebite”, it said.

Coots appeared in a National Geographic television show titled Snake Salvation about Pentecostal preachers who defy the law to use serpents as part of their religious services.

Snake-handling, which is illegal in most places, is practised as a test of faith and guided by the theory that true believers will not be harmed.

It is particularly popular in parts of Appalachia. Middlesboro lies near the junction of Kentucky, Virginia and Tennessee and is about 60 miles (100 km) north of Knoxville, Tennessee…

Easy resolution to the question of which ruled this man’s life: ignorance or stupidity?