Otto Warmbier dies days after being brought back to the US from North Korea in a coma

The University of Virginia student, Otto Warmbier, who was held in North Korea for 

15 months has died days after being brought back to the United States in a coma. Warmbier was returned to his family in Ohio just a week ago after spending 17 

months in North Korea where he was arrested.

His death was announced in a statement released by his family via the hospital which 

he was taken to last week upon his return to the United States. 

"It is our sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his journey 

home.  Surrounded by his loving family, Otto died today at 2:20pm.

It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost — future time that 

won’t be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and 

enthusiasm for life knew no bounds. But we choose to focus on the time we were 

given to be with this remarkable person.  You can tell from the outpouring of emotion

 from the communities that he touched — Wyoming, Ohio and the University of Virginia 

to name just two — that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family.

We would like to thank the wonderful professionals at the University of Cincinnati 

Medical Center who did everything they could for Otto. 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. 

When Otto returned to Cincinnati late on June 13th he was unable to speak, unable to 

see and unable to react to verbal commands. He looked very uncomfortable — almost anguished.  Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance

 of his face changed — he was at peace.  He was home and we believe he could sense that.

We thank everyone around the world who has kept him and our family in their thoughts 

and prayers.   We are at peace and at home too."

Fred & Cindy Warmbier and Family.

Warmbier was 21 when he was arrested for stealing a poster from a hotel in North Korea during a trip there.

He was accused of committing a 'hostile act' against the dictator-led country and ws sentenced to 15 years of hard labour.

Last week, suddenly, he was released and allowed to return home to the US. 

When he returned, however, doctors were horrified by his condition. He was unable to speak or communicate at all with his family and doctors described his state as one of 'unresponsive wakefulness.'

Upon his release, the North Korean regime blamed Warmbier's condition on 

botulism - a form of food poisoning which they said he'd suffered since the day 

he was sentenced. 

The man's father rejected the claim, blaming his almost vegetative state on how it treated him.

'There's no excuse for the way the North Koreans treated our son and the way they 

have treated so many others,' Fred Warmbier said at a press conference last week.  

A video taken days before his arrest was released by his devastated family last week. 

It showed him throwing snowballs with his friends, oblivious to the bleak fate which awaited him.   

Source: UK Daily Mail