An American college student released by North Korea after 17 months in detention suffered a “severe neurological injury,” a hospital spokeswoman said Thursday.
After returning home from North Korea, 22 year-old Otto Warmbier was immediately transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center hospital, where he is in stable condition with his mother by his side, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Martin said. Doctors planned an update later Thursday.
Warmbier’s parents said their son has been in a coma for more than a year, and described his release as a medical evacuation.
At a press conference Thursday, Fred Warmbier, Otto’s father, said that he did not believe what North Korea said was the cause of their son’s condition.
“Even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma – and we don’t – there is no excuse for any civilized nation to have kept his condition secret and denied him top-notch medical care for so long,” he said.
WATCH: Fred Warmbier on son’s condition after release
Fred Warmbier went on to say that the Trump administration had been more helpful in communicating with the family and facilitating the return of their son.
“The question is, do I think the past administration could have done more,” Fred Warmbier said. “I think the results speak for themselves.”
North Korea had sentenced Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, to a 15-year prison term for attempting to steal a propaganda poster.
Fred and Cindy Warmbier said they were told their son was given a sleeping pill shortly after his trial last March, and he never woke up.
State Department officials refused to comment on Warmbier’s health, citing department guidelines, but said the last time the U.S. had any access to Warmbier, through the Swedish Embassy, was March of last year.
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