14. (Part 2.) "Another Stranger's Kindness"

Cody is life-flighted to the intensive care unit of the University of Tennessee Hospital. When the doctors wake him, his feel pain so excruciating, Cody welcomes the relief of death. 

"This hurts so bad!!!" he scribbles on paper. "PLEASE DOPE ME UP 'TILL I PASS OUT!!"

Then, a stranger – a kind nurse – shows Cody and his wife a great kindness...

The very next Sunday, Cody's back in church. Will he keep his faith this time? Will he return to the backsliding life? 

Will he ever handle a serpent again?

What is Marked for Life?

Cody Coots is a fourth-generation serpent handler. By age 6, he handles mock serpents with his sister, Trina, in the church, using leather belts for props. Cody secretly yearns for a normal childhood.

He likes to ride his bike, play drums, and watch WWE wrestling with his father, Jamie. (Jamie is the world's most famous serpent-handling preacher.) A terrible act of violence befalls 8-year-old Cody, shocking the serpent handling community. A preacher pleads guilty to charges of deviant sexual abuse, but it's too late: Cody's innocence is shattered. Anger boils inside him, so he turns his wrath upon his parents, his church, and even his God.

As he cruises the backstreets of Middlesboro, Ky, looking for nothing but trouble, Cody's sins begin piling up. But the consequences do, too.

Is Cody beyond salvation? Or, is he as the community describes him: "Marked for life?"