Fire Marshal Dies Of Rattlesnake Bite
 

PALATKA, Fla. -- A Putnam County fire marshal has died after being bitten by a diamondback rattlesnake he shot in a neighbor's yard.

Joe Guidry, 54, shot the five-foot snake multiple times on Oct. 1 and thought it was close to death. He reached out to grab the snake, and that's when officials say he was bitten on his right hand.

Putnam County Sheriff Dean Kelly says Guidry told him in intensive care that he felt the snake's poison tingling in his lips as soon as he stood up after the bite.

Guidry's condition worsened despite receiving 18 vials of antivenin and he died Friday, Kelly said.

"He died helping someone else. I think his mission in life was to make people remember him and well, mission accomplished," Kelly said.

Kelly will be giving a eulogy at Guidry's funeral Tuesday in Palatka.

Guidry had also worked as a firefighter in Clay and Collier counties and an emergency medical technician in St. Johns County.

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