Alabama man dies 3 days after copperhead snake bite at Smith Lake
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.
“He never met a stranger,’’ said his brother, Reb Baker. “He loved everybody.”
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.
“It was a whole chain of events,’’ Reb Baker said. “His organs just couldn’t recover.”
Baker was the youngest son of retired Birmingham radiologist Dr. Charlie Baker and his wife, Pat. He worked water quality control for the City of Northport.
“He would go way out of his way to help everybody. He never wanted accolades,’’ his brother said. “Everybody loved him. It’s just unbelievable.
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