Hundreds help efforts to identify piano-man

Nearly 400 people have contacted a British helpline set up to identify the so-called Piano Man, a health trust said today.

The man does not speak but has stunned carers by giving a virtuoso piano performance.

He has not uttered a word since police picked him up wandering aimlessly near the beach in Minster on the Isle of Sheppey, Kent, in the early hours of April 7, wearing a dripping wet suit and tie.

All efforts to communicate with the shy and agitated man, who is in his 20s or early 30s, have failed, leaving experts baffled as to his identity and where he is from.

Bizarrely, all the labels from his clothes had also been removed, making it even harder to find out who he is.

Staff at the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham gave the mystery man a pen and paper in the hope he would write his name or draw his country’s flag.

Instead, he drew highly detailed pictures of a grand piano, showing not only the keys but also the intricate inner workings of the instrument.

When his social worker, Michael Camp, showed him a piano in the hospital chapel, he played classical music “beautifully” for up to four hours. Since then, he has written music, but remains mute.

Mr Camp said earlier that it was possible that the Piano Man’s identity may never be known. “If nobody can name this guy, then I don’t see how we can possibly find out,” he said.

“The only other way is if we get expert people working with him who are able to use his music and get his (identity).”