He was sworn to secrecy by the authorities - he could not even tell his wife, Jane - and for the rest of his life he never spoke of it. The official verdict was death by misadventure. LAC Maddison's parents, four brothers and sister, from Consett, Co Durham, never received an apology or an explanation as to why he underwent the experiment. His surviving family fought a long battle for a new investigation, arguing that he had believed he was taking part in an experiment to find a cure for the common cold.