Three months after Otto Warmbier’s death, his parents revealed the horrific details of their discovery of Otto’s condition on the aircraft when it arrived.
Otto’s parents, Fred and Cindy Warmbier, knew Otto had severe brain damage, but expected him to be asleep and in a quiet coma. The family — including siblings Austin and Greta — was in a waiting room with the medical team waiting for the arrival of Otto’s aircraft. The medical team had arranged to enter the aircraft before the family. After 5 minutes, the medical team returned from the aircraft and said it was OK for the family to enter the aircraft. The Warmbier family — Fred, Cindy, Austin, and Greta entered the aircraft. When the family walked halfway up the steps to the aircraft, the family hear this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound which they weren’t certain about the noise. When they reached a point where they could see Otto’s stretcher, they could see Otto was jerking violently and making these inhuman sounds. Cindy and Greta ran off the plane. Austin and Fred walked over to Otto, and saw he had a shaved head, he had a feeding tube coming out of his nose, he was staring blankly into space while jerking violently, he was blind, he was deaf, it appeared as though someone had taken pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth, he had a large scar on his right foot. Within two days Otto Warmbier had a fever that spiked to 104°F. Fred Warmbier emphasized that North Korea is not a victim; they’re terrorists, he said.
After 17 months in prison, Otto Warmbier had arrived in a comatose state Tuesday night June 13, 2017 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where doctors tried to determine what caused his coma and whether there were chances of recovery.
Otto Warmbier died in the hospital on June 19, 2017 at 2:20 p.m. at the age of 22.
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Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old American college student, has been medically evacuated under desperate circumstances after being detained in North Korea. North Korean authorities arrested Otto, who is now comatose, almost 18 months ago during a trip to the reclusive nation and sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for taking a poster.
Otto Warmbier, who was from Wyoming, Ohio, went to the University of Virginia and traveled to Asia (Part 1).
What happened when Otto Warmbier was detained in North Korea (Part 2).
Otto Warmbier’s parents give first interview since the death of their son, days after his release from a North Korean prison