Horror after Toronto lawyer fell to his death attempting to prove glass window was unbreakable

A top lawyer met a tragic end 30 years ago when he attempted to demonstrate the strength of his office's unbreakable glass by throwing himself against a window, only to fall 24 floors to his death when the frame, not the glass, gave way.

Garry Hoy's untimely demise occurred as the 38 year old was trying to show a group of visiting students the durability of the skyscraper's windows in Toronto, Canada.

Hoy, a respected figure at Holden Day Wilson law firm, had previously performed this stunt successfully, but on July 9, 1993, the demonstration ended in disaster during a reception for new articling students.

The incident took place in a small conference room next to a boardroom where the event was being held, on the 24th floor of a building erected in 1969 in Toronto's Financial District.

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Holden Day Wilson, which occupied that fateful 24th floor, would shut its doors three years later, marking the largest law firm collapse in Canadian history, with Hoy's death cited as a contributing factor by some experts, reports the Mirror .

At the time, a spokesperson for the firm clarified that the glass did not shatter but instead popped out of its frame, resulting in the fatal fall. "It was a totally freak accident," said Peter Lauwers, managing partner of Holden Day Wilson, reflecting on the bizarre circumstances surrounding Hoy's death.

Bob Greer, a structural engineer, revealed to the Toronto Star, "I don't know of any building code in the world that would allow a 160-pound [73 kg] man to run up against a glass and withstand it."

Colleagues paid heartfelt tributes to Mr. Hoy, hailing him as "one of the best and brightest" at the company. Reports circulating at the time suggested that Mr. Hoy had performed this risky maneuver several times before, having always previously bounced back from the glass without harm.

The death was treated as a misadventure by both the police and the coroner's office.