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Lawyer fell out of skyscraper window to his death while trying to prove it was unbreakable
Featured Image Credit: Findagrave/Public Domain/George Pachantouris/Getty Images

Lawyer fell out of skyscraper window to his death while trying to prove it was unbreakable

Garry Hoy tragically lost his life after falling out of a skyscraper window.

There have been a lot of unfortunate and even embarrassing deaths that have been reported over the years, with Garry Hoy's story surely being up there.

The 38-year-old was regarded as a well respected lawyer at the Toronto law firm Holden Day Wilson.

Garry initially earned a degree in engineering, but his natural career progression was to specialise in building safety and compliance.

The robustness of modern building techniques was an area the lawyer took a particular interest in.

Garry's ever-changing career took him to the twenty-fourth floor of a Financial District skyscraper that was built in 1969.

That's a long way up...
Getty Stock Photo

But it wasn't the building itself that grabbed Garry's attention, but instead the office windows. And it wasn't the breathtaking views from the window either that was of interest, but instead its strength.

He was so keen to demonstrate their sturdiness that he soon had a new party trick to whip out at gatherings: body checking the windows.

You can see where this is going, can't you?

On July 9, 1993, the firm threw a welcome party in their conference room for their new intake of summer interns for the summer.

They were keen to explore the field of law they were studying and potentially decide on a specialism for their future.

Garry saw his moment to impress and, as he'd done countless times before, he threw his full weight against the huge window to demonstrate its unbreakable structural design and safety.

The second time, however, he didn't bounce back as he had before.

To the horror of the interns and other onlookers from the firm, rather than the window standing firm, the pane popped out of the frame.

Garry fell from the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower building at TD Centre.
Simon P/Wikimedia Commons

Garry, as shocked and surprised as anyone, fell 24 floors, dying instantly as he collided with a stone block on the pavement below.

A structural engineer questioned about the incident told the Toronto Star: “I don’t know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160-pound man to run up against a glass window and withstand it."

Garry’s death, classified as 'accidental auto-defenestration', is thankfully a pretty rare way to die.

Garry later won a Darwin Award for his embarrassing demise.

He was described by peers as one of the 'one of the best and brightest' at the firm, which closed its doors three years later.

And if there is a bright side to this story, Garry proved his point: it was the frame that failed - the glass didn't break.

Topics: News, Weird