Woman dies of heart attack following dog bite attack

A woman from South Carolina died last week following a dog bite attack from a pit bull owned by her nephew.  The autopsy performed on the woman showed that she had an enlarged heart which may have left her predisposed to having a heart attack.

This story brought to mind a truism in the law which is that the tort defendant takes his victim as he finds him.  It is also referred to as the eggshell plaintiff rule.

What this means is that even when the accident victim has a preexisting condition which left him or her more susceptible to injury, the defendant is liable for all of the damages that he causes, even if it is more than you might have otherwise expected.  An example of this is if the victim had a skull that was as thin as an eggshell and was killed as a result of a glancing blow, the defendant is still liable for the wrongful death.

Because of that rule, in this case, the owner of dog is still liable for the death of this woman even though she had an enlarged heart which left her predisposed to having a heart attack during a dog bite attack.