Parents of Otto Warmbier recall son's torture by North Korea

The parents of Otto Warmbier recalled the optimism they felt when they learned he was being released from a prison in North Korea during their first interview, three months after their son’s death.

Fred and Cindy Warmbier told Fox and Friends they knew their son was in a coma, but hoped medical care in the United States would be enough to save Otto. As soon as they boarded the plane that carried him back to the United States however, they were met with “howling, this involuntary, inhuman sound.”

At that point, both Otto’s mother and younger sister ran from the plane.

Otto Warmbier: A timeline of the student's North Korea imprisonment

“Otto had a shaved head, he had a feeding tube coming out of his nose, he was staring blankly into space, jerking violently,” Fred told the news station. “He was blind. He was deaf. As we looked at him and tried to comfort him, it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth.”

The 22-year-old’s fever spiked to 104 degrees and he died June 19 at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center — days after he was returned home from a prison in North Korea.

“To see how he came home was almost too much for us,” Cindy told Fox. “I almost passed out, but I got it together and I rode in the ambulance with him because I did not want him to be alone anymore.”

He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labor after being convicted of trying to steal a propaganda poster from his hotel. In June, Rex Tillerson announced that North Korea released Otto, who told American officials that he’d contracted botulism and then fell into a coma after taking a sleeping pill.

Medical officials in the U.S. said scans showed extensive loss of brain tissue, consistent with cardiac arrest that deprived the brain of oxygen.

They’re still unsure what prompted the cardiac arrest, but did not see any evidence of botulism.

The Warmbiers explained that they’d hoped to stay out of the spotlight and heal, “but now we see North Korea claiming to be a victim, and that the world is picking on them,” Fred explained.

“We’re here to tell you North Korea is not a victim, they’re terrorists, they kidnapped Otto, they tortured him, they intentionally injured him.”

Shortly after the interview, President Trump tweeted out his approval.

“Great interview on [Fox and Friends with the parents of Otto Warmbier: 1994-2017” he wrote Tuesday morning. “Otto was tortured beyond belief by North Korea.”

RELATED: Warmbiers gather to remember their son

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