'Piano Man' speaks and is identified, returns home to Germany

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

The man known as just the 'Piano Man' has left the hospital where he was staying and has returned home to his native Germany. He has finally spoken after four months of silence.

It turns out, according to British tabloid The Daily Mirror, that the man, aged 20, was from Germany but after losing his job in Paris, traveled to the UK through the Channel Tunnel. He was going to commit suicide when he was found by police on a Kent beach.

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He refused to talk to authorities due to his distressed state. It appears that he had formerly worked with mental patients and copied what he saw from them to fool the doctors. Also according to the Mirror, the man was only able to tap the same piano key repeatedly, but hospital officials refute this. However, all of this information came from a single, unidentified source.

The man was found soaking wet on a beach in Kent in an expensive-looking suit from which all the labels had been removed.

Some people believed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or that he was an autistic savant. Some also believed he was a Canadian eccentric, a French busker, a student from Norway, or Czech concert pianist Tomáš Strnad.

Sources

Black, Edward. "'Piano Man' finds his own way home" — The Scotsman, August 23, 2005
Milmo, Cahal. "The Piano Man is identified (as a one-note Bavarian nurse)" — The Independent, August 23, 2005
Leeman, Sue. "Mysterious 'Piano Man' released from British hospital, returns home to Germany" — Associated Press, August 22, 2005
Hoyle, Ben. "Piano Man: German, gay and gone home" — The Times, August 23, 2005

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