Oswald Watson was the paramedic that attended the robed stranger in Bethnal Green, East London. Tests in the ambulance and subsequently at the Mile End hospital revealed that the patient was uninjured but suffering from amnesia. What was novel in his case was that not only did he have no understanding of events and that he was totally bemused by his surroundings, but that his only language skills were in an unknown tongue. One word he repeated over and over - Marrek.

Buoyed by the success of his first attempt, Marek drew and painted pictures daily. He took a sketchpad and Oz’ camera and made studies and photos of the water, the bridges, locks, barges and trees. He was fascinated by every aspect of the environment he found himself in. Almost everything was new, exciting and mysterious. Back in his room in Alice Lane he experimented with pastels and oil paint, which both Oz and Delyse provided him with, as they were fascinated by the learning processes that Marek was going through. Picture making in particular became his therapy. The act of depiction, making statements that stood for what he perceived through his senses enabled him to build up his identity – replace what had been lost with something new. Encouraged by Oz and Delyse he devoured art history books and visited every free art gallery in the area, and in so doing he met Ruth. She was a language teacher at a local secondary school, and she became very interested in trying to determine the origin of Marek’s language.