On the 4th floor of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, in the medical-surgical unit, the rooms are buzzing with families gathered around hospital beds visiting their loved ones.
But not in Room 4K110.
A mystery man hit by a train more than a month ago is recovering here, unable to communicate who he is or where he comes from.
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a patient in order to notify family members of the current medical situation. The individual is a male in his 30s or 40s, is 5-feet 9-inches tall, and weighs approximately 150 pounds. He was wearing a light blue hooded shirt with blue jeans the day he was brought to SCVMC. He was involved in an incident on Friday, April 25, 2025, at approximately 11:14 a.m. on the Caltrain tracks in Santa Clara. Anyone with possible information related to the patient can contact Santa Clara Valley Medical Center by calling (408) 885-5504 and selecting option 2. (Photo courtesy SCVMC)
Officials at the hospital run by Santa Clara County took the unusual step Thursday of releasing his photo to the public in hopes that someone will recognize him and reunite him with his family. His eyes are barely open. A tube runs from his nose. A jagged, two-inch scar drops down his forehead. He’s about 5-foot-9 and looks to be in his 30s or 40s.
Does anybody know this man?
“It’s difficult when people are in the hospital and they don’t have that support system,” said Stacie Fazzio, VMC’s nurse director in charge of the medical surgical units. When he’s ready to leave the hospital, she said, it’s important that “people are there that can assist with his care.”
Federal law protecting patient privacy prohibits Fazzio from revealing more about his condition, about his injuries, about whether he’s had surgery. She wouldn’t say if he has amnesia or whether he can speak at all.
And when it came to understanding why he ended up at 11:14 a.m. April 25 on the Caltrain tracks in Santa Clara without identification, she declined to even speculate.
Nonetheless, registered nurse Victoria Tran and a team of therapists and aides who have been tending to this John Doe can’t help but wonder: “Is there anybody out there who’s looking for him?” Tran said.
They all feel a special empathy for this particular patient who has no visitors, she said. Every time a caregiver enters his room, they greet him with a warm hello, she said, and ask whether he’s in pain, if he’s thirsty. Does he need anything?
Clinical nurse Victoria Tran checks on and comforts an unidentified patient at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, June 5, 2025. SCVMC is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the patient in order to notify family members of his current medical situation. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
“We may not know him or his name, but we care for him like he’s like our own friend or our family,” Tran said. “The speech therapists and the physical therapists all want to see him get better and see him be reunited with his friends and family.”
Whenever she can, Tran, 30, who’s spent her entire 6-year career at Valley Med, lingers a bit longer in room 4K110.
“I just spend a little bit more time, just because there is nobody at the moment with him,” she said.
She holds his hand and squeezes it, she said, and touches his shoulder.
“I hope that he can feel it,” she said, “and know that we’re here for him.”
San Mateo County Sheriff’s authorities, who investigate Caltrain accidents, didn’t return calls Thursday for more information about efforts they’ve taken to identify the patient, about missing persons reports they may have reviewed in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and whether they have attempted any facial recognition technology.
But for Tran and the staff at Valley Med, they keep wishing a family member will walk in one day and greet him by name.
“Hopefully there is somebody out there, and they’re looking for him,” she said. “That’s what’s in the back of my mind, that he has somebody out there.”
Clinical nurse Victoria Tran, left, and Nurse Manager Stacie Fazzio check notes outside of an unidentified patient’s room at the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, June 5, 2025. SCVMC is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the patient in order to notify family members of his current medical situation. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)