 Otto Warmbier, center, is escorted at the Supreme Court in Pyongyang, North Korea, Mar. 16, 2016. / AP-Yonhap |
By Hwang Ga-yeon
The parents of Otto Warmbier, the U.S. student North Korea detained and who died soon after returning home in June, have described the horrific details of his condition.
Fred and Cindy Warmbier disclosed to Fox News on Tuesday what the communist state did to their son and criticized the country for claiming to be a "victim" of the United States' push for war.
Fred described North Korea as "terrorists" and said they kidnapped and tortured Otto.
The student's family saw him when they went aboard an air ambulance on June 13. But Otto's mother and sister left the plane in shock at the initial sight. They said Otto had a shaved head, a feeding tube in his nose, was blind and deaf and was staring blankly.
The father said Otto also had a large scar on his right foot and a high fever.
"It looked like someone had taken pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth," Cindy said. "We could not call it a coma and were not prepared (to see Otto in such a horrific condition)."
 Fred and Cindy Warmbier watch as the casket for their son Otto is placed in a hearse after his funeral in Wyoming, Ohio, June 22. / AP-Yonhap |
Fred said that when he was halfway up the steps to the airplane, he and his wife "heard this howling, involuntary, inhuman sound."
"We looked in and Otto was on the stretcher across in the plane and he was jerking violently, making these inhuman sounds," he said.
Cindy added: "No mother, no parent should ever have gone through what we went through".
Otto was arrested in January 2016 for trying to steal a propaganda poster from Yanggakdo International Hotel in Pyongyang.
He was originally sentenced to 15 years' prison but was released after 17 months, partly due to American President Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts.
Warmbier died six days after returning home. Doctors described his condition as "unresponsive wakefulness" and said he had suffered a "severe neurological injury" of uncertain cause.
Trump tweeted on Tuesday that the Warmbiers' appearance was "a great interview." "Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea," Trump said on the social media site.
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