Fred and Cindy Warmbier endured a torturous morning in June 2017 as they waited outside Cincinnati. Since he was detained while traveling to North Korea on a tight budget, they haven’t spoken to their son Otto in a year and a half.
The last time she saw him was at a Pyongyang news conference that was broadcast on television, where her boy, a smart, cute, 21-year-old classmate from the University of Virginia, admitted to overthrowing the government by stealing propaganda posters. The troika of an Ohio church, a student secret society, and the U.S. government ultimately triumphed.
“I made the wrong choice for myself. I’m only human, though. He pleaded with his captor, “Please forgive me and let me return to my family. He cried out, but was kidnapped anyhow. sentenced to 15 years of hard labor, then vanished into the prison system of the dictatorship.
Fred and Cindy reportedly informed a friend that Otto may have been killed at one time during their protracted vigil because they were so upset. Cindy hoped that by lighting Chinese lanterns and sending flame-filled balloons into North Korea in the winter wind on her son’s 22nd birthday, she might be able to reach him. She sang “Happy Birthday” and said, “I love you, Otto.”
However, the Warmbiers were expecting word of Otto’s release from a State Department covert assignment on that morning in June. President Trump had ordered a U.S. team to fly to North Korea when he discovered that Otto was reportedly unconscious, and now the highest echelons of the administration are keeping tabs on the mission’s development. Officials are concerned because it is uncertain whether the young man will actually be released. According to an official, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the president at 8:35 a.m. to inform him that Otto had taken flight. “Take care of Otto,” the president is said to have written.
Then Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who assisted in directing Otto’s return attempts, called Warmbier to let him know that an ambulance had just flown into Japanese territory and that Otto would return that evening.
Cindy was aware that her son was still not in danger. Prior to the rescue, Portman informed her that Otto had reportedly been in a coma for a number of months, although the full nature of the injuries was unknown. She asked, “Can you explain to me how Otto’s brain functions?”
Otto appeared to have major brain damage, Portman retorted.
Cindy told the news organization that she anticipated Otto dozing off or being put into a coma by medication. The Warmbiers are upbeat, intelligent patriots who believe that their son will become the vivacious man he was before he left with the help of American healthcare and their affection.
Currently, Portman and his coworkers are relocating aircraft from Cincinnati International Airport to a more exclusive, smaller municipal airport in order to get ready for the start of the new semester. The throng waved homemade welcome-home signs as the sun set, and TV crews fixed their cameras to the boundary fence. A few Warmbiers were waiting close by as the sleek, luxurious plane taxied to the hangar.
Fred subsequently recalled hearing a harsh, “inhuman” roar halfway down the plane’s stairs and wondering what it was, over the roar of the engine that was still operating. He discovered Otto, who was restrained to a stretcher and convulsing and shrieking wildly, as he went into a compartment filled with medical supplies.
Cindy was prepared to mold her son, but she wasn’t planning on it. Otto’s limbs and legs were “totally malformed,” according to his parents. He pulled back his brown, curly hair. His nostril became infected by a feeding tube.
As Fred put it, “It looks like somebody grabbed a pair of pliers and rearranged their lower teeth.” Cindy claimed that Otto’s sister screamed and rushed from the aircraft, and Cindy pursued her.
Fred came up and gave his son a hug. Otto had empty, wide eyes. Otto is welcomed home by Fred, who tells him he misses him and is overjoyed to see him. Otto’s uncanny howl, however, persisted and was unabated.
