DEATH FROM TETANUS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 69, 23 March 1938, Page 13

DEATH FROM TETANUS

INSURANCE CLAIM

DISPUTED BY COMPANY

A judgment of Mr. Justice Northcroft, that a married Canterbury woman who died on June 18 last from tetanus became infected with the disease when she fell from a motor-car, and was therefore covered by a private motorvehicle insurance policy for £1000, was disputed in the' Court of Appeal today by the Victoria Insurance Company, Ltd. The appellant contended that the disease was contracted an appreciable time after the accident, as a result of the injuries, but was not part of the actual injuries.

The case started yesterday afternoon and was continued today. The Court consisted of the Chief Justice (Sir Michael Myers), Mr. Justice Blair, Mr. Justice Kennedy, and Mr. Justice

Callan. Mr. P. B. Cooke, K.C., with him Mr. P. H. T. Alpers, appeared lor the appellant, and Mr. F. D. Sargent, with him Mr. K. J. McMenamin, appeared ior Ernest Leonard Harrison-Wilkie, farmer, of West Melton, Canterbury, administrator of the estate of his late wife, Marguerite Therese HarrisonWilkie. All counsel, except Mr. Cooke, were of Christchurch.

Mrs. Harrison-Wilkie, who was aged 40, was issued with her policy on February 15, 1937. On May 28 she was being driven along the Yaldhurst Road by her husband. There was a dense fog, and it was decided to let her down to ascertain the whereabouts. Before the car was quite stopped she opened the door and accidentally fell out. She suffered a bruise and an abrasion on her leg and a bruise near her throat. The abrasion was dirty and was bathed with hot water and disinfectant.

Mrs. Harrison-Wilkie had been trained as a nurse, and the injuries were dressed and bandaged twice a day. She stayed in bed, but on June 13, when her condition caused concern, she was taken to Christchurch. A doctor sent her to a private hospital, and the next day tetanus was diagnosed. She was removed to the public hospital for isolation and treatment. She died on June 18.

Mr. Justice Northcroft, in his judgment, said.that the three doctors called as witnesses —two for the plaintiff and one for the defendant —agreed that most probably the infection of tetanus occurred when Mrs. Harrison-Wilkie was injured at the roadside. It was explained that the dust of the roadside of a rural locality such as that where the- accident occurred, or even the tyres of the car, which traversed country districts, and by which she might have been injured, might be contaminated with tetanus germs or spores. The dust would affect the abrasion, and thus, the medical witnesses thought, she contracted tetanus. It was admitted by them as a possibility, but disregarded as a probability, that the infection occurred at the farm during the period when the leg was being treated there.

His Honour held that the infection occurred when Mrs. Harrison-Wilkie fell from the car and not afterwards, and that the plaintiff wa^ entitled to recover the sum sued for in accordance with the contract of insurance. The Court of Appeal today reserved its decision.'