181 A. 845 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1935
Argued October 7, 1935. The claimant in this workmen's compensation case alleged that on Wednesday, February 7, 1934, while in the employ of the defendant as a dishwasher, he slipped and fell, sustaining an injury. The board held "that the claimant suffered an accidental, compensable injury when he fell while in the course of his employment with *52 the defendant, which fall aggravated a pre-existing condition of arteriosclerosis, and caused the claimant to suffer a cerebral hemorrhage or left-sided hemiplegia," and reversed the referee who had disallowed the claim. On an appeal, the court affirmed the board. Our duty is to determine whether the record contains sufficient competent evidence to sustain the finding and conclusion of the board.
The record of the Hahnemann Hospital, offered in evidence, stated that the claimant was admitted to the hospital on February 7, 1934, with the diagnosis of a cerebral hemorrhage; that he had felt in perfect health before suddenly slipping and falling to the floor; that the "patient is uncertain whether he slipped accidentally or whether this was part of his condition." At the hearing, however, claimant testified that as he was walking to the sink "I slipped. I don't know if something was on the floor — some grease or something — I didn't see. I didn't have a chance to see. Anyhow I slipped and fell." A fellow employee stated that he called the claimant to lunch, and saw him, as he was walking, fall about eight feet from him. We think the evidence of the claimant and an eye-witness, notwithstanding the hospital record made at the time the claimant was convalescing, was sufficient for finding that he slipped and fell.
Prior to the occurrence, the claimant had been suffering from arteriosclerosis, but the fact that his condition rendered him more susceptible to such an injury than the ordinary person does not defeat his right to compensation: Clark v. Lehigh Valley Coal Co.,
In neither Riley v. Carnegie Steel Co.,
Judgment affirmed.