His harrowing experience is finally over, but his state of health attests to the brutal treatment he underwent.
Otto Warmbier was rushed to a Cincinnati hospital shortly after arriving from Pyongyang late Tuesday night.
His nightmare started in March 2016 when North Korea says they caught the 22-year-old trying to steal a propaganda poster from the hotel he was staying at while on a tour of the reclusive nation.
A security camera allegedly caught Warmbier in the act.
He was arrested and weeks later brought to North Korea’s supreme court where he pleaded for mercy.
« Please, I have made the worst mistake of my life, but please, act to save me, » Warmbier said during his court appearance in March 2016.
But the judge showed no mercy.
In a trial that lasted just one hour, the native of Ohio was convicted and sentenced to 15 years hard labor.
« Please save my life, » he pleaded with the court. « Please think of my family. »
Warmbier’s parents hadn’t heard from or seen him since he was sentenced and found out just last week that their son had been in a coma for almost a year.
The Washington Post reports that Warmbier contracted botulism soon after his trial and never woke up. A senior American official tells the New York Times that Warmbier was repeatedly beaten while in North Korean custody.
His parents released a statement saying, « We want the world to know how we and our son have been brutalized and terrorized by the pariah regime in North Korea. »
« We pray for him and we pray for his family, » said Thomas Shannon, a high-ranking State Department official.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced Warmbier’s release on Tuesday during an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations committee.
« At the president’s direction, the Dept of State has secured the release of Otto Warmbier. He’s on his way en route home to be reunited with his family, » Tillerson said.
In suburban Cincinnati where Warmbier is from, the local community there prepared for his return by tying white and blue ribbons around his neighborhood.
« The family’s been through so much agony and stress that they just want to surround them with love, and I think putting up the blue and white ribbons – because those are Wyoming colors, the high school where he went – that kind of shows him support, that we’re here for the family, » said Amy Mayer, a neighborhood friend.
Warmbier’s release comes as three other U. S. citizens are still being held in North Korea.
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