CHEROKEE COUNTY, Alabama – A Cherokee County man died in a hospital Tuesday after he was bitten by a rattlesnake several days earlier.

Daniel Frank Mitchell, 53, was bitten Sept. 20 and died Tuesday after a several-day stay in an Anniston intensive care unit, the Anniston Star reported.

Mitchell was bitten by the snake in Salem, and rescue officials were called to his home in Pleasant Gap around 5 p.m. He went into cardiac arrest while an ambulance was taking him to a Jacksonville hospital, where he remained unresponsive after receiving antivenin to counteract the venom.

He was transferred that night to the Anniston hospital where he later died.

Mitchell, a longtime resident of Pleasant Gap, enjoyed hunting and spending time outdoors, according to his obituary.

Snake bites in Alabama are rarely fatal, the Huntsville animal services director told AL.com in August.

The Regional Poison Control Center at Children's of Alabama hospital has recorded one death from a snake bite in Alabama in the last five years, a spokeswoman told the Star.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 7,000 to 8,000 people nationwide are bitten by venomous snakes each year, but only about five of those bitten die.