Kentucky pastor Jamie Coots, the star of National Geographic’s Snake Salvation, died this weekend from a snake bite. The network did not plan on doing a second season, but will still produce a tribute episode.

In a statmeent to Deadline, NatGeo said that they will be “mourning the loss” of Coots, along with his firends and family.

“In following Pastor Coots for our series Snake Salvation, we were constantly struck by his devout religious convictions despite the health and legal peril he often faced,” the network said. “Those risks were always worth it to him and his congregants as a means to demonstrate their unwavering faith.”

The network said that a tribute episode will be produced “so people can understand Pastor Jamie and his method of worship and see that he died doing what he believed was his calling.”

As previously reported, Coots died on Saturday after his thumb was bit by a 2 1/2-foot-long timber rattlesnake during a church service. He reportedly refused medical treatment from first responders.

Coots was one of two pastors who appeared on Snake Salvation. The other was Tennessee Pastor Andrew Hamblin. The show started last fall.

image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons