Fisher

Petitioner Kathleen Fisher is the widow and petitioner Donna Fisher the daughter of Donald Fisher. After the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board denied their claim for death benefits, we issued a writ of review.

The appeals board’s denial was based upon the last paragraph of Labor Code section 5406, that paragraph being italicized in the following excerpt: “The period within which may be commenced proceedings for *926 the collection of the benefit provided by Article 4 of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of this division is one year from:

Mr. Fisher had suffered a work-connected, disabling heart attack on December 5, 1969. The employer’s compensation carrier voluntarily paid disability benefits until July 20, 1974, when Mr. Fisher’s work-connected heart condition resulted in his death. Time elapsed from the heart attack to the date of death was 240 weeks and 1 day. Petitioners filed their application for death benefits on December 2, 1974. The appeals board believed that section 5406 barred any death claim asserted more than 240 weeks after the injury, that is, after the disabling heart attack. 1 The board concluded that the last paragraph of section 5406 made no exception arising…