Wayne M. Grooms, 71, of West Columbia, died after being bitten by a rattlesnake, Sunday afternoon.

Grooms was a commissioner with the Lexington Soil and Water Conservation District. A report about his death was posted on his Facebook account, Monday.

Clarendon County Deputy Coroner Bucky Mock said Grooms  was visiting Santee National Wildlife Refuge with family on Sunday when he was bitten by a timber rattlesnake. Death from a snakebite is rare.

According to the Manning Times newspaper, the Clarendon County Coroner’s Office said Grooms had an existing medical problem, but it could not be disclosed.

After the bite, Grooms was being walked to a car, when he collapsed and died. Grooms died just minutes after he was bitten by the snake, according to the report. It was about 3:55 p.m.  There will be an autopsy performed Tuesday to determine the cause of death.

Grooms worked for Commercial Metals Company. He studied at the University of South Carolina, and went to Williston Elko High School in Barnwell County, according to his profile.

Grooms is listed as a commissioner and the “vice-chair” of the Lexington Soil and Water Conservation District in a post dated September 2015.