PER CURIAM
Fair Oaks Hospital and its insurer ("employer") contend that the commission erred in finding that Margaret A. Dale (claimant) suffered an injury by accident on February 10, 1993. Upon reviewing the record and the briefs of the parties, we conclude that this appeal is without merit. Accordingly, we summarily affirm the decision of the Workers' Compensation Commission. Rule 5A:27.
"In order to carry [her] burden of proving an 'injury by accident,' a claimant must prove that the cause of [her] injury was an identifiable incident or sudden precipitating event and that it resulted in an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in the body." Morris v. Morris, 238 Va. 578, 589, 385 S.E.2d 858, 865 (1989).
The commission awarded compensation, finding that claimant's back pain, which first manifested itself on the morning of February 11, 1993, was the result of the February 10, 1993 identifiable incident which caused an obvious sudden mechanical or structural change in claimant's body. On appellate review, we must uphold the commission's findings of fact if they are supported by credible evidence. James v. Capitol Steel Constr. Co., 8 Va. App. 512, 515, 382 S.E.2d 487, 488 (1989). We must construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the party prevailing below. R.G. Moore Bldg. Corp. v. Mullins, 10 Va. App. 211, 212, 390 S.E.2d 788, 788 (1990).
Claimant testified that, at 3:00 p.m. on February 10, 1993, she lifted a patient from a bed to a chair. The chair slipped during the transfer, and, in order to keep the patient from falling, claimant "was caught in the position of [having] to take the load from the shoulders all the way down to the heels . . . ." Claimant testified that she did not feel pain at the time of the patient transfer, and did not perform any strenuous activity the remainder of the day. She awoke the next morning with back pain.
Employer's argument is two-fold. First, it argues that claimant did not prove an injury by accident because she felt no pain at the time of the patient transfer. This argument has no merit. " Morris did not require a showing of immediate onset of the symptoms of an injury." Hercules, Inc. v. Gunther, 13 Va. App. 357, 364 n. 2, 412 S.E.2d 185, 189 n. 2 (1991).
Second, employer argues that it is mere speculation to conclude that claimant's pain resulted from the patient transfer. We also reject this argument. Claimant described the patient transfer in detail, and testified that she engaged in no other strenuous activity for the remainder of the day. Furthermore, Dr. Thomas C. Schuler, by letter dated April 28, 1993, stated that claimant's experience
is the normal sequence of events with most back injuries. It is a rarity that the patient will have significant symptoms at the immediate time or within five minutes of the injury. Ninety percent or greater of the patient [sic] who have back injuries have an onset of symptoms approximately one day later.
Claimant's testimony and Dr. Schuler's opinion constitute credible evidence to support the commission's decision. Accordingly, we affirm that decision.
Affirmed.