Preacher Mack Wolford, a serpent handler, died after being bitten by a deadly snake. His belief based on a very literal reading of verse 16:17-18 in the gospel according to Mark - “And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Well, Mack got bitten and everyone including a photo journalist stood by watching him writhe in agony for about ten hours. The paramedics were eventually called and he was taken to hospital but way too late to be of any use.
No question Mack understood what he was doing. As a teen he watched his father die a similar death in the exact same circumstances. Mack was a grown man entitled to his beliefs and entitled to die for his beliefs, I know that....Still it saddens me, not only that he died but that he died unnecessarily and in agony. As a doctor I see more than my share of death. The premature, unnecessary deaths like Mack are the hardest to take. It's moments like this that I wish the deeply religious among us would accept that if God is all powerful and created everything then he created modern medicine. There's no shame in using it and no shame in using it to save your life. Mack would probably be alive now if he received prompt medical attention. The shame is he didn't get it.
