In 1993, lawyer Garry Hoy tragically fell to his death while trying to prove the strength of a 24th-floor window in his Toronto office building. Hoy, a respected lawyer at Holden Day Wilson, was known for his fascination with the structural integrity of the windows in his office. During a welcome party for new interns, he attempted to demonstrate the window’s durability by throwing himself against it, a stunt he had performed successfully many times before.
However, on this occasion, the windowpane popped out of its frame instead of holding firm. Despite the glass itself not breaking, the frame gave way, causing Hoy to fall 24 stories to his death. The incident was later classified as an accidental “auto-defenestration,” meaning he inadvertently caused himself to fall out of the window. His death shocked onlookers and colleagues, who remembered him as one of the best and brightest at the firm.
A structural engineer later commented that no building code would allow a window to withstand such force, despite Hoy’s confidence in the window’s strength. It was the frame’s failure, not the glass, that led to the tragic accident. The story serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of such demonstrations, no matter how confident one might be in the safety of a structure.
Hoy’s death remains a well-known and cautionary tale in the legal and architectural communities, symbolizing the unforeseen dangers of testing structural limits without proper safety precautions.
