Biography

William Thomas Buxton

5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)

The one challenge I actually did well on, was the one challenge that all the docs expected me to fail. The lung capacity test. As the only smoker in the group, there was an expectation that I'd be pretty bad at this one, but I had a few secret weapons. One, I'm not a massive smoker. I know that doesn't make a difference because you're either a smoker or you're not, and even as a social smoker you're still expected to have worse lungs than someone whose breath runs fresher than the air over the Swiss alps. And two, I used to play the trumpet and French horn. Plus I used to be a chorister. I was pretty sure my lung capacity was better than average.