10 Astonishing Facts About Garry Hoy, Who Accidentally Jumped Out Of A Skyscraper Window To His Death

6 /10 Students Witnessed His Death

Hoy’s window bashing luck ran out on July 9, 1993. His Firm had organized a reception party for a group of prospective interns who were to begin their apprenticeship that summer.

Garry Hoy was taking the law students on tour around the Firm. Everyone was feeling good; the spirits were high.

And then, Hoy decided to try his usual party trick. Maybe to impress the awestruck newbies, who knows? But the horror of that day may never leave their memories.

5 /10 He Went At The Glass Twice

The crazy thing is that Hoy threw himself on the glass twice. The first hurling just bounced him off it. The drink didn’t shatter, and his experiment was successful.

If he had just walked away then, you certainly wouldn’t be reading this. Hoy would have still been alive. Probably. 

However, Garry took another flying leap at the window, and everything went wrong from there. It happened so quickly. One moment Hoy was against the window; the next, he was falling 24 stories to his death.

4 /10 Hoy Was Right Till The End

Another weird part of the story is that Hoy’s theory about the glass’s strength was correct. The glass didn’t shatter, even though he fell. According to the police, the glass only broke when it hit the ground.

What had caused Hoy to fall out then? It was found out that at his second try, Hoy’s weight dislodged the glass, so it popped out of its frame, intact. The structure and blinds didn’t go with the glass. So Hoy was right till the very end.

3 /10 The Firm Died Too

The Holden Day Wilson law firm didn’t bounce back from the incident. It led to its demise. Within three years after the terrible incident, the Firm lost a lot of its staff and associates.

It is estimated that more than 30 lawyers left due to the trauma caused by losing their colleagues in such a tragic manner.

There must have been lawsuits because, in 1996, Holden-Day Wilson finally closed its doors due to unpaid bills and compensation.

2 /10 Garry Hoy Became A Legend

Garry became more famous after his death. His bizarre death was featured in TV shows like 1000 Ways to Die and a MythBusters episode titled “Vacuum Toilet, Biscuit Bazooka, Leaping Lawyer.”

In 1996, his freak accident received a Darwin Award and was the inspiration behind a scene in the 2006 movie Darwin Awards.

Garry Hoy also has a Wikipedia entry, a Snopes article, and several Reddit threads dedicated to the strange story.

1 /10 His Death Was Avoidable

Garry Hoy, who many in his Firm had described as the “best and brightest” and “generous,” would have been alive today if he had left the experts’ testing.

He didn’t have to bodyslam the glass to show how sturdy it was. Even structural engineer, Bob Greer, has this to say. 

“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.” 

Some say it’s a myth. Some say it happened. What we know is that Garry Hoy’s unfortunate and accidental defenestration would forever be a famous and unbelievable tale in the book of bizarre deaths.