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
your message is heard
