Britt Jones
A simulation reveals what went wrong when a lawyer determined to prove that a 24th-story window was unbreakable fell through it to his death.
Garry Hoy was a 38-year-old lawyer at the Toronto law firm, Holden Day Wilson in July 1993.
Prior to that, he had gained a degree in engineering and then specialized in building safety and compliance.
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His interests brought him to modern building techniques, and particularly, how robust they were.
By the time of his death, he had become obsessed with the windows on the 24th floor of his office building and the strength of them.
Could they handle someone running at them? That’s the sort of thing he wanted to know.
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In a bid to quench his need for answers, his decided to start actually throwing himself against the windows to prove that they were strong.
For some time, they were unshakable… until July 9 1993.
A simulation video uploaded to YouTube by Zack D Films shows exactly how Hoy fell to his death.
In the clip, you can see Hoy at his firm’s welcome party in their conference room.
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As he had done so many times before, he decided to run towards the window to prove just how sturdy they are.
Of course, considering he had thrown himself at the window so often, he must have become confident that they would never break.
So, when his body slammed the glass to demonstrate its unbreakable structural design and safety, he probably didn’t expect to suddenly feel cold air against his skin.
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While the first time he performed the trick, everything went as planned, the second time turned into a nightmare.
In the video, you can see Hoy fly out of the window as the pane popped out of the frame, and the lawyer fell 24 floors.
Unfortunately, from that height, nothing could be done to save him and he died upon impact as he hit the pavement below.
Speaking about the incident to the Toronto Star, a structural engineer later said: “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."
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In the end, Hoy's death was classified as 'accidental auto-defenestration' (causing yourself to fall out of a window).
He was remembered as 'one of the best and brightest' at the firm.
Shockingly, his death actually proved his point.
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The glass didn’t break upon the impact of his body, it was the pane that wasn’t strong enough.
For those who watched the clip, they had a few words in response to this unfortunate event.
One person said: “The students learned a very valuable lesson that day…”
Another commented: “Imagine cheering to your teacher falling out of a window.”