TUSCALOOSA, AL – Oliver “Chum” Baker, 52, was out walking his new Labrador puppy last Friday on his back patio when he was bitten by a copperhead snake.

Baker told his family he had been bitten, according to Alabama.com.

The copperhead was still coiled up.

Baker was unconscious in a matter of minutes, according to the New York Post.

Efforts to resuscitate him were initiated by a family member prior to the paramedics arriving. Baker was supposed to be airlifted to UAB Hospital in Birmingham but he wasn’t stable enough to fly, according to the report.

By the time Baker arrived at Huntsville Hospital it was too late. The venom caused a critical allergic reaction, putting Baker into anaphylactic shock, then cardiac arrest.

Baker died of the snake bite on Memorial Day.

Copperheads are among the more common North American snakes — found throughout the eastern and central U.S. from Connecticut to Kansas and Florida to western Texas, according to research by Pennsylvania State University’s biology department.

They bite more people in the US than any other venomous snake — and though the bite is extremely painful, it is usually not life-threatening for healthy adults, the research said.