16 S.E.2d 612 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1941
Under the evidence the director was authorized to find that the deceased employee did not sustain an injury by accident arising out of and in the course of his employment, but that his death was due to a disease of coronary occlusion. The superior court did not err in affirming the award of the Industrial Board denying compensation to the claimant.
The evidence was substantially as follows: The deceased was employed by the Atlanta Royal Crown Bottling Company as a route *827 superintendent. Among his duties was that of driving its trucks on routes where the drivers were, from special causes, unable to go on the routes from time to time. He also went on trucks on routes where sales were decreasing. On such occasions he either drove the truck himself, as in the first instance, or accompanied the driver with the right, if he chose to do so by reason of his supervisory authority, to drive the truck himself. On May 27th and 28th, 1940, a driver, one Teat, had been off from work on account of illness, and on those days the deceased had driven Teat's truck. On May 29th Teat returned to work, but because he had not fully recovered from his illness the deceased went out on the regular route with him. About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, while the deceased was driving the truck, it slipped off the road into a ditch and bogged down. Teat and a helper got out of the truck and placed rocks and trash under the wheels in order to give the tires more gripping power. Teat then got in the truck and left the deceased and the helper outside and at the rear of the truck. After several unsuccessful efforts to drive the truck out of the ditch Teat finally got it out on firm ground, and continued to drive the truck the rest of the afternoon until completing the trip about 6:30 in the afternoon. Sometime during the afternoon, after the truck had been gotten out of the mud, the deceased complained that he was not feeling well, but attended a sales meeting of the company that night and while there stated that he was not feeling well. When he reached his home that night he went to bed early, and on the following morning ate very little breakfast before going to work. That morning the deceased again accompanied Teat on his route, leaving the company office about 7 o'clock. Teat drove the truck until about 7:30 when the first stop was made. The deceased then drove the truck until about 1 o'clock p. m., and stopped at the place of a customer where he complained to Teat that he had a pain in his chest. He asked Teat to get him some "Tums" and a little later, when he had obtained no relief, asked for a second glass of soda water, and a little later complained that his condition was getting worse. He asked to be taken home, and during the trip complained of severe pain in his chest, and on reaching home had to be assisted into the house. A doctor arrived in a short time, and in a few minutes thereafter Merritt died. The doctor testified, and stated in his death certificate, that Merritt's death was caused by coronary occlusion. *828
It is contended by the plaintiff in error that the deceased underwent a violent and unusual exertion in driving a heavy truck, weighing 20,000 pounds, along a rough and muddy road, and that it is undisputed that after bringing it to a stop on a paved road he was stricken with an occlusion or bursting of one of the heart arteries or blood vessels and died within thirty minutes thereafter, and that under Lumbermen's Mutual Casualty Co. v.Griggs,
The superior court did not err in affirming the award of the Industrial Board denying compensation to the claimant.
Judgment affirmed. Stephens, P. J., and Felton, J., concur.