26 S.E.2d 115 | Ga. Ct. App. | 1943
In an action to recover on an insurance policy for accidental death, the evidence for the plaintiff did not reasonably exclude the hypothesis that the death was caused or contributed to by disease or bodily infirmity, in which event under the policy terms no recovery could be had, and the court did not err in directing the verdict for the insurance company.
The evidence showed that the insured fell as he walked up to a spooling machine in the Fitzgerald Cotton Mill, and as he was about to lay his hands on it. L. C. Walker testified that he saw the insured approach the machine; that he looked back and saw he was falling; that he didn't know how he came to fall; that when he fell his head struck an iron loom beam; that he fell about four feet before his head hit the beam; that the floor was not wet but it was oily around the machine because the machine was oiled two or three times a day; that he couldn't say whether the insured stumbled or what caused him to fall. The evidence showed that insured weighed about one hundred eighty pounds and was about forty-six years old. Those who testified stated that they knew him intimately and had never heard of his suffering from any organic or physical disease, and that he appeared to be a healthy, strong, and robust man.
If the death was contributed to or caused by disease or bodily infirmity the plaintiff was not entitled to recover. Harris v.Metropolitan Life Insurance Co.,
Judgment affirmed. Stephens, P. J., and Sutton, J., concur.