Mueller v. St. Louis Public Service Co.

• Decision Date: 05 January 1932
• Docket Number: No. 21711.,21711.
• Citation: 44 S.W.2d 875
• Parties: MUELLER v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERVICE CO.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

44 S.W.2d 875

MUELLER v. ST. LOUIS PUBLIC SERVICE CO.

No. 21711.

St. Louis Court of Appeals. Missouri.

January 5, 1932.

Appeal from St. Louis Circuit Court; Frank Landwehr, Judge.

"Not to be officially published."

Action by Sophia Mueller against the St. Louis Public Service Company. Judgment for plaintiff, and defendant appeals.

Affirmed.

T. E. Francis and B. G. Carpenter, both of St. Louis, for appellant.

Claud D. Hall, of St. Louis, for respondent.

SUTTON, C.

This is an action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by plaintiff on March 5, 1928, while a passenger on defendant's street car, in the city of St. Louis.

Plaintiff charges in her petition that, while she was proceeding toward the rear end of the street car, for the purpose of alighting therefrom, she was, by violent and unusual jerks of the street car, thrown against the edge of a seat in the rear of the car, and thereby injured her coccyx, or lower end of her spine.

The trial, with a jury, resulted in a verdict in favor of plaintiff for $3,500. Upon the hearing of defendant's motion for a new trial, the court ordered the amount of the verdict reduced to $3,000, by remittitur, as a condition to overruling the motion. The remittitur was accordingly made, and judgment was given for $3,000. From this judgment, defendant has appealed to this court.

In view of the questions raised here, it becomes necessary to set out in some detail the testimony relative to the nature and extent of plaintiff's injuries.

Plaintiff testified: "I was out of my seat and stepping down from the top platform, down to the bottom one, and I was standing there, holding on, but I didn't have a very tight hold yet because I had just got there, and the car gave a very hard jerk and it kind of lifted me off my feet and turned me halfway around, then it gave another very hard jerk and the second jerk just turned me clear around and threw me up against that back seat. My spine struck the edge of the seat. I was thrown about five feet. I struck the end of my spine bone. The end of my spine bone struck the seat. I didn't know anything for a minute or two, and then my son picked me up. It caused me to suffer pain in my back and spine. I had pretty much pain when I got home. I had a doctor the next day. I was in bed three weeks. I couldn't move or turn or do anything for three weeks, and I was very sick for three weeks. During that three weeks I had nervousness, sleeplessness and vomiting. I was so nervous I couldn't help myself at all, and I had pain in my spine—the end of my spine. I suffered with my bowels and my bladder. I just couldn't go to stool like I did before and my bladder doesn't empty like it did before, and I have very much pain. It is hard for me to go to stool and perform the usual functions of nature, as I did before. I just had an awful pain there. I had headaches pretty near all the time. My leg is cramping all the time, all the way down. I had vomiting spells. Every time I took a drink or took a little something to eat I would vomit. That condition continued for about six months. My condition now is not very much better, only I don't have the vomiting. I am very nervous. I still suffer from headaches, but not so bad. This nervous condition is such that I can't sleep. My bowel and bladder troubles are not any better. I never had any of those conditions before the accident. I never had anything. Following the accident Dr. Leppert treated me at first. I afterwards called Dr. Riecke and he treated me. He is still treating me. I never had any trouble with my leg or coccyx before this accident."

Lillie Mueller, plaintiff's daughter-in-law, testified: "I saw Mrs. Mueller at her home the next day after the accident. I saw her body. I saw bruised spots at the bottom of her spine and on her right thigh. The spots were blue, kind of blue like and yellow. I went to see her every day for three weeks. I took care of her and fixed her meals for her and took care of her house. She wasn't able to do anything. She was hardly able to turn in bed. She was very nervous, and couldn't sleep, and she couldn't eat anything; she would vomit everything up that she ate. She had cold sweats and chills. That condition continued. She was always healthy before the accident."

Harry Mueller, plaintiff's son, testified: "I was standing at the rear door of the car. My mother was in the aisle, about to step on the rear platform, when the car gave a very hard jerk, loosening her hold, and on the second jerk, threw her completely around and hit her spine against the edge of the circular seat. That second jerk was very hard. I saw mother frequently after the accident. At the time she couldn't move in bed. She had to lay on her back continuously for three weeks. I observed her condition after that. I have noticed that when she sits down she can't very well sit on one side for no length of time. I have noticed that during the entire time since the accident. Her physical condition prior to the accident was pretty good, so far as I know. She had never been troubled with any sickness of any consequence, or any of these conditions in her back, spine, coccyx or leg. I never heard of her being afflicted with any headaches or nervous condition."

Dr. Samuel E. Peden testified: "I examined the plaintiff on April 16, 1928. She came to me on account of pain in the lower part of the pelvis and coccyx bone. I found it very sensitive and deviated. She came to me to have an X-ray. I did not attempt to take an X-ray of her because she was stout. I just made a physical examination of her and sent her home. The coccyx is the lower end of the spine, and consists of four coccyx bones. I examined the coccyx bone through the rectum, and touch of the coccyx bone seemed to cause her a great deal of pain. The deviated condition of the coccyx which I found in my examination, in my opinion, might or could be caused by an injury, and the condition could be the cause of the impaired bowel action. The condition would cause painful movement of the bowels, which, in turn, would cause her to try to avoid the pain, and as she would become constipated in that way, it might also cause a contraction of the muscles of the rectum so that the stool would not pass, and that would cause painful stool. It would also cause nervousness. The patients I have seen that way would be very nervous. Under such conditions it is painful for the patient to arise from a sitting position, and to stoop causes pain. I don't know how permanent the plaintiff's condition is. It is likely to cause pain in the future. I know of no cure for her condition only an operation. We would have to remove the coccyx bone by an operation. That...