David Sands appeals from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to Elizabeth Lindsey on his premises liability claim.1 He contends that Lindsey is not entitled to summary judgment because jury issues remain on whether he was an invitee or a licensee on her premises and, if the jury determines that he was a licensee, whether Lindsey’s negligence was willful or wanton. For the following reasons, we affirm. Summary judgment is proper when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. OCGA § 9-11-56 c. A de novo standard of review applies to an appeal from a grant of summary judgment, and we view the evidence, and all reasonable conclusions and inferences drawn from it, in the light most favorable to the nonmovant. Punctuation and footnote omitted. Jones v. Murphy , 306 Ga. App. 539 703 SE2d 26 2010. So viewed, the record shows the following facts. In the pre-dawn hours of December 30, 2006, Lindsey called 911 and asked for an ambulance because her brother was having difficulty breathing. Sands is a certified emergency medical technician “EMT”, and he and his partner, Trey Kent, were dispatched to Lindsey’s home pursuant to the emergency call. Sands testified that, due to the seriousness of an emergency call involving respiratory difficulty, he grabbed his equipment bag as soon as they arrived at Lindsey’s house and hurried for the house while his partner retrieved an oxygen tank from the ambulance. The external lights were not turned on to illuminate the house, even though it was still dark outside and Lindsey knew that emergency workers had been dispatched to her home. There was a light on inside the house, however, and the inner wooden front door was open, so Sands could see directly into the house through the doorway, which he described as “crystal clear.” It is undisputed that there were no markings or stickers to warn that there was a closed glass storm door obstructing the doorway. Sands watched his feet as he stepped onto the porch, then looked up and through the doorway into the house, walked a few steps forward, and “slammed” into the glass storm door. The collision was so loud that his partner thought Sands had been shot with a gun. Sands staggered and fell back against a wall. When Lindsey came out of the house, Sands asked her, “Who would have opened a wooden door, and not a glass door” Lindsey responded, “Well, I’m sorry. I just cleaned the glass storm door.” Lindsey admitted that she had opened her inner wooden door because she knew that emergency workers were on their way, but she had left her glass storm door closed.
As a result of his collision with the door, Sands suffered pain in his neck and shoulders, a facial laceration, a concussion, an “excruciating headache,” nausea and vomiting. In addition, he was subsequently diagnosed with three herniated cervical disks. He filed a premises liability suit against Lindsey, and Lindsey answered and filed a motion for summary judgment. Following a hearing on the motion,2 the trial court granted the motion, and Sands appeals.
