you haven't spoken publicly really until today and just to either of you
why are you breaking your silence what do you want people to know
well for starters Brooke Cindy and I knew the day we met
OTO at the airport that we were going to we were going to share our experience
the the horribleness of what North Korea did to him was so devastating to our
family that it we experienced a shock that I have never experienced in my life
as a family we needed to come together and process this as as best we could and
over the past three months we've we've we've started the grief process my kids
Austin and Greta are amazing and and and now we we see North Korea with the
tensions claiming to be a victim and they're claiming that the world is
picking on them and we're here to tell you as witnesses to the terror of their
regime North Korea is not a victim so we felt it was time to tell the truth about
the condition that Ida was in let's start there
this warm beer if you don't mind sure tell me about the day sure yeah in the
morning of the day that he was going to be medevacked home senator portman
called us to tell us we weren't sure that North Korea was going to release
him even though we knew he was in a coma and that he had been in a coma
pretty much shortly after his trial and so he was out of their airspace so he
sent her deportment said he'll be home tonight and I said to him can you tell
me how odd oh how his how his brain is functioning I was were
really optimistic people and so we were just still hopeful that we would get
auto back and he he could be like with good American health care he could
improve and not be okay and Senator Portman said it was severe brain damage
so still not knowing what that entailed we went to the airport and waited and we
were kept away from all the press we weren't sure what was going on
but we knew that the press wasn't going to be involved because this was our
private time understandable with auto so I'm going to let Fred start but we were
at at a little private hangar and tarmac and the plane landed and using the term
coma for Otto's condition is completely unfair Otto had severe brain damage otto
was systematically tortured and intentionally injured by kim jong kim
and his regime and this was no accident it they intentionally injured Otto I'll
tell you what it was like when we met Otto at the airport we were in a waiting
room and the plane comes in comes near to where we are the medical team agrees
they'll go out and meet Otto first and then it's a great they come down five or
seven minutes later and it's time for the family to go up and meet him and so
we walked out to the plane the engines are whining it's myself Cindy Austin and
Greta we climb the stairs to the to meet with auto halfway up the stairs
we hear this this loud guttural howling inhuman sound we don't know what it is
we continue up the steps we get to the top of the steps and we look across in
the airplane and Auto is laying on a stretcher he's strapped to the stretcher
and he's moving around and jerking violently making these howling inhuman
sounds Greta and Cyndi go back leave go down
the steps it's too much for them to handle Austin and I walk over to Otto
and he's in this condition he's has a shaved head his eyes are darting around
in the it hit there as big as saucers he's blind he's deaf he's got a feeding
tube and it we kneel down and we hug him and try to connect with him and he's a
complete vegetable and I and his bottom teeth look like they had taken a pair of
pliers and rearrange them and so there was no comforting Auto this was horrible
and this noise kept he kept doing this today we weren't prepared for this at
all no one would you know one how could you be had any idea going in there what
we were gonna see his hands and legs were totally deformed and he was you
know you want to say she want to say this was not our son this was our son
and we're proud of him yeah but this was our son and this was
the condition that Kim and his regime intentionally put him in how I'm
listening me what I'm just trying to how did he
how did he die specifically cousin explained to you oh you mean in the well
oh sure um two days after Otto came home his fever spiked to over a hundred and
four degrees I don't had this huge scar on his right
foot he was he was on his deathbed when he was when he came to home to us this
was not a pleasant sight this was always a release they didn't want him to die on
their soil how has it been explained to you what North Korea did when you say
torture what did they do do you know we know North Korea North Korea doesn't
even acknowledge that they considered it a humanitarian gesture sending Otto home
his teeth looked like they had been rearranged with a pair of pliers you can
only look at the evidence perfectly healthy
a young American visiting there an innocent young American comes home with
severe brain damage but it's not like it happened and they shipped him home
immediately it's it's a year later these people are
terrorists Kim and his regime intentionally injured Otto help me
understand because looking at the doctors they said you know if suffered
extensive loss of brain tissue consistent with cardiopulmonary arrest
was in a state of unresponsive wake wakefulness didn't know what causes
brain damage they say he didn't show any obvious indications of trauma or
evidence of either acute or healing fractures why opt out of an autopsy
that's a really good question absolutely yeah I don't and our family have been
through enough enough we were Ottawa's abandoned by his family his country and
the rest of the world he was kidnapped in North Korea he was isolated from his
family and the world he was paraded in front of him there
puppy was human our family and out of work humiliated by
the North Koreans and ultimately when Kim made the decision otto was tortured
and essentially murder enough enough irony Otto needs to be a
Otto is at peace and it's about time I wasn't going to let him out of my sight
and I didn't and she did a visual our coroner did a visual and then she's the
one that product that huge scar on his foot we don't know you've no idea
it covered the entire top of his foot how do you get a scar that covers the
entire top of your foot it looked like she said it had to be an open wound for
months and months and months what is the US government said to you we don't we
don't we don't engage with them at this level and it's not that we can't we
don't need to ask them what condition or what happened to Otto obviously you want
this as a nation what kind of what any of any information has the government
given to you none none in fact in fact we don't need it right and we're not
here to bad-mouth the Obama administration the State Department any
of them this is solely the responsibility of the Kim regime Kim and
his regime and nobody should go there ever
nobody needs to go there it was legal he went with the tour group
nobody needs to go there you know the Wall Street Journal just went there they
show you what they want you to see so why are we playing into this why do we
play into this at all anymore I mean I don't want to see anyone else hurt or
taken that's also why you're speaking out oh yeah how are you feeling
no I'm not I'm feeling like like I'm getting stronger all the time I'm every
day I think about him I mean almost every minute of every day I think of
Otto he's always going to be with me it's a wonderful memory and I don't want
to remember Otto in North Korea or in the hospital I have enough Fantana
stick memories of the 21 years we had together so in my last minute you tell
me tell me about tell me about Auto what we what do you think about in your bones
about your son he was a good boy he was all boy so so again when you you have to
remind yourself that he wasn't perfect and that he would call you up and talk
and then you realize he's scamming you because he wants to borrow money or some
so he was all boy but but he was loving and kind and we just we had fun together
and we we you know we were older when we had kids we wanted to be a part of our
kids lives we're currently a part of our other kids lives and so we have no
regrets I can honestly say that and I would point out when aughtta was
kidnapped our family got together and we had to make a decision of how we were
going to move forward with this new situation and we also had to do it again
by the way when auto was sent home and ultimately passed away and we buried him
we had to make a decision on how we're gonna how we're gonna move forward and
we we said autos death and circumstances are not an excuse to fail and then if
the reverse were true and Cindy and I were killed we would need auto to carry
on to be a positive person and to do the absolute best he could in life and
that's that's that's what we're charged with as well and we're proud proud
people I can proud people proud parents I have 20 seconds left just finally to
hear them from mother's voice about her son I have so many great stories that
I'll share this one Fred and I for our I think it was our 25th wedding
anniversary we went to Glacier National Park and odda was in charge of the other
two younger kids and he wanted to give them a special day so he took them to a
gorge hiking at a gorge just on a day trip and brought it back and he
surprised them and he told us he was going to do it but but that's what he
was he the giver he never complained about
taking care of the kids and he just gave them a great day that they'll remember
mr. mrs. warm beer thank you so much well I am so sorry
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