Doctors: Student freed by N. Korea has brain damage
Medical team does not knowwhat caused Otto Warmbier to fall into coma during prison term.
WYOMING, Ohio — A U.S. college student who emerged from prison in North Korea in a coma has severe brain damage, but doctors do not know what caused it, a medical team treating him in Ohio said Thursday.
The doctors described OttoWarmbier, 22, as being in a state of “unresponsive wakefulness” but declined to discuss his outlook for improvement, saying such information would be kept confidential.
“He has spontaneous eye opening and blinking,” said Dr. Daniel Kanter, director of neurocritical care for the University of Cincinnati Health system. “However, he shows no signs of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surroundings.”
Warmbier is at the UC Medical Center, where he was taken after his arrival in Ohio late Tuesday after more than 17 months in NorthKorean captivity. The reclusive country accused the University of Virginia student of anti-state activities.
His father, Fred Warmbier, said the family was proud of Otto, calling him “a fighter.”
The elderWarmbier said he didn’t believe North Korea’s explanation that the coma resulted from botulism and a sleeping pill. U.S. doctors said they found no evidence of active botulism, a rare illness caused by contaminated food or a dirtywound.
Kanter said the youth suffered “extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain.” Doctors said his injuries are consistent with respiratory arrest cutting off oxygen to the brain. Doctors said they saw no evidence of fractures in his skull or elsewhere that might be evidence of severe beatings.
Fred Warmbier said he received “a very nice phone call” Wednesday from President Donald Trump.