Otto Warmbier Health Condition Update: The 22-Year-Old Still Unresponsive, UC Doctor States
American college student Otto Warmbier, who was detained in North Korea for 17 months, was finally freed this week. He was returned to his hometown in suburban Cincinnati in a coma.
The 22-year-old University of Virginia student who arrived in the U.S. last Tuesday, has severe injuries in all regions of his brain. Although he is in a stable condition, he remains unresponsive.
Dr. Daniel Kanter, medical director of the neuroscience intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, shared Warmbier's present state at a press conference. He may be breathing on his own, but he still "shows no sign of understanding language, responding to verbal commands or awareness of his surrounding," the doctor said.
"He has not spoken," Kanter added. "He has not engaged in any purposeful movements or behaviors."
Fred Warmbier, father of the 22-year-old, said that he does not buy North Korea's explanation for his son's injuries. He does not believe that his son contracted the coma from botulism and a sleeping pill. Fred told Fox News last Wednesday that his son has been in a coma for over a year. More importantly, he shared that he and his wife, Cindy, only learned about Otto's condition the week before he was released.
According to one of former President Barack Obama's advisers, the administration did what they can to secure the release of Warmbier, as they do for every American imprisoned overseas. However, North Korea's isolation made Warmbier's release a difficult case.
Ned Price said that the administration was able to secure the release of 10 other Americans who are imprisoned in North Korea. A U.S. diplomat along with two doctors traveled to the country on a private aircraft, as instructed by President Donald Trump, to negotiate the release of Warmbier.
More updates on Otto Warmbier's condition should follow.
