Garry Hoy died on July 9, 1993, after performing a "party trick" that involved throwing himself against the 24th-floor windows of his office building.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Toronto-Dominion Centre, the former home of law firm Holden Day Wilson, and the place where Garry Hoy died.
The morning of July 9, 1993, started out as a normal one for Garry Hoy, a 38-year-old lawyer with the law firm Holden Day Wilson in Toronto. As he usually did, Hoy reported for work that morning at the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower building in downtown Toronto, and made his way to his offices on the 24th floor. But every hour Hoy was in the office building brought him closer to his death, one of the most bizarre in recent memory.
A structural engineering buff as well as a lawyer, Hoy had long been fascinated by the physical strength of modern architecture. He was especially impressed with the fortitude of his office windows, and had developed an office “party trick” in which he hurled his full weight against the glass, just to prove how strong they were.
When a group of prospective legal apprentices passed through the office that day, Garry Hoy saw the perfect opportunity to demonstrate his trick. He’d done it countless times before, and had no reason to worry that it wouldn’t work. The glass had always held; he was sure it would hold again.
But as it sadly turned out, he should not have been so confident.
Who Was Garry Hoy?
Given the strange circumstances of Garry Hoy’s death, and the fact that he was later “awarded” a Darwin Award, one might initially get the impression that he was inebriated, stupid, or suicidal. But Hoy was none of those things.
In fact, Hoy was a successful and respected corporate and securities lawyer at the Toronto-based law firm Holden Day Wilson. Not only was Hoy a partner at the firm, but managing partner Peter Lauwers described him as “one of the best and brightest” lawyers at the company, which employed about 200 people and had offices in the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower.
paul (dex) bica/FlickrGarry Hoy worked on the 24th story of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower building, from where he would sadly plummet to his death.
Not only did Hoy have a law degree, but he also reportedly had an engineering degree. Though he’d become a lawyer, he remained interested in engineering, and was fascinated with the strength of modern architecture.
Sadly, this interest in engineering would lead to Garry Hoy’s death on the 24th floor of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower building in July 1993. The story of the lawyer’s surprising death has been scrutinized online (and even fact-checked by Snopes) but what happened is surprisingly straightforward.
A Tragic And Surprising ‘Death By Misadventure’
There’s a word for throwing someone out of a window: defenestration, a term most famously used in the 1618 Defenestration of Prague. But though accidental self-defenestration is far more unusual, that’s exactly what happened to Garry Hoy on July 9, 1993.
On that fateful day, a reception was held for law students interested in apprenticeships at Holden Day Wilson. Garry Hoy was giving a tour of the offices and decided to demonstrate his favorite party trick: throwing himself against the windows of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower so the students could see just how resilient the glass was.
Hoy had performed the stunt to audiences before. As well as demonstrating the strength of the windows, it was clear that he enjoyed the performance.
But on that day, Hoy’s stunt went terribly wrong.
Toronto Star ArchivesAn article about Garry Hoy’s “death by misadventure.”
At first, it went according to plan. Hoy body-slammed the window in front of the law students, and the window held, as it always had before. But then Hoy threw himself at the window a second time. In a split second, the mood in the room turned from amusement to horror.
Instead of bouncing off the window as he had the first time, Hoy went straight through the window as the glass popped out of its frame. He plunged 24 stories down and was killed instantly.
It quickly became clear to police who arrived on the scene that Garry Hoy’s death was the result of a tragic freak accident. Indeed, it was ultimately listed as “death by misadventure.”
“[Hoy] was showing his knowledge of the tensile strength of window glass and presumably the glass gave way,” said one Toronto police officer. “I know the frame and the blinds are still there.”
But though Garry Hoy’s death was an unexpected and horrific tragedy, it was entirely preventable. Speaking to the Toronto Star, structural engineer Bob Greer remarked: “I don’t know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160-pound man to run up against a glass and withstand it.”
Garry Hoy’s Legacy
Garry Hoy’s freakish death earned him quite the reputation. His online presence includes both a Wikipedia entry and a host of Reddit threads (“Oh Garry Hoy. Still one of the weirdest Toronto stories that people think is a myth,” reads one).
His death was also lampooned in the 2006 film The Darwin Awards starring Joseph Fiennes and Winona Ryder, featured in the television show 1,000 Ways to Die, and was explored in the second-ever episode of the beloved Discovery Channel series Mythbusters.
Hoy’s tragic death also possibly sealed the fate of his law firm, Holden Day Wilson. In the course of three years, there was a mass exodus from the firm: more than 30 lawyers left after the trauma of losing one of their own. In 1996, Holden Day Wilson officially closed due to issues surrounding unpaid bills and compensation. At the time, it was perhaps the most infamous law firm failure in Canadian history.
But while Hoy’s death is often made light of due to its bizarre circumstances, it does not change the fact that a man lost his life. What’s even more gut-wrenching is that his death was entirely avoidable.
“[Hoy] was a superb lawyer and one of the most personable people you could ever meet,” Hugh Kelly, one of Hoy’s co-workers, told the Toronto Star after his death. “He’ll be sorely missed.”
Kelly was echoed by Lauwers, who stated: “His death has just crushed his family, co-workers, and friends. Garry was a bright light with the firm, a generous person who cared about others.”
After learning about the “leaping lawyer” Garry Hoy, read just how much it took to kill Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin. Then check out the 16 most unusual deaths from history, from the man who tripped on his own beard to the Swedish king who ate himself to death.
