Former N. Korea prisoner dies at age 22
Native Cincinnatian Otto Warmbier ‘completed his journey,’ family says.
Otto Warmbier, an American college CINCINNATI — student who was released by North Korea in a coma last week after almost a year and a half in captivity, died Monday, his family said.
The 22-year-old “has completed his journey home,” relatives said in a statement. They did not cite a specific cause of death.
“Unfortunately, the awful, torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” his parents said.
Doctors had described his condition as a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” and said he suffered a “severe neurological injury” of unknown cause.
His father, Fred Warmbier, said last week that he believed Otto had been fighting for months to stay alive to return to his family. Their statement Monday said he looked uncomfortable and anguished after arriving June 13, but his countenance later changed.
“He was at peace. He was home, and we believe he could sense that,” they said.
Warmbier was convicted of subversion for allegedly trying to steal a propaganda banner while visiting with a tour group. He was put before North Korea officials and journalists for a televised “confession.”
“I have made the worst mistake of my life!” he exclaimed, choking up as he begged to be allowed to reunite with his parents and two younger siblings. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor.
The University of Virginia student was held for more than 17 months. His family said they were told he had been a coma since soon after his March 2016 sentencing.
Doctors said he suffered extensive loss of brain tissue and “profound weakness and contraction” of his muscles, arms and legs. His eyes opened and blinked but without any sign that he understood verbal commands or his surroundings.
Unresponsive wakefulness is a new medical term for persistent vegetative state. Patients in this condition who have survived a coma can open their eyes, but they do not respond to commands. People can live in a state of unresponsive wakefulness for many years with the chances of recovery depending on the extent of the brain injury.
North Korea said Warmbier went into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill. Doctors in Cincinnati said they found no active sign of botulism or evidence of beatings.
His parents told The Associated Press in a statement the day of his release that they wanted “the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime.”
Fred Warmbier praised his son’s “performance” and President Donald Trump’s administration. He was critical of the approach to his son’s situation taken by former President Barack Obama’s administration.
In a White House statement, Trump said, “Lot of bad things happened, but at least we got him home to be with his parents.” He called North Korea a “brutal regime.”
The younger Warmbier grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Wyoming. He was salutatorian of his 2013 class at a highly rated high school and was on the soccer team, among other activities.
He had planned to study in China in his third year of college and heard about Chinese travel companies offering trips to North Korea.
Young Pioneer Tours described itself as providing “budget tours to destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from.” Its travel options also included Iran, Iraq and former Soviet countries.
Warmbier was in the process of leaving North Korea on Jan. 2, 2016, when he was detained at the airport.
The State Department warns against travel to North Korea. While nearly all Americans who have been there have left without incident, visitors can be suddenly seized and face lengthy incarceration for what might seem like minor infractions.
Warmbier was “generous, outgoing, sweet, smart as a whip, just an overall good guy,” Danica White, his sophomore English teacher, recalled last week. He brought “this brightness” and excitement to the classroom.