Trevor Reed, a U.S. Marine currently serving a sentence in a Russian prison for an alleged attack on two Moscow police officers in 2019, is reportedly ‘coughing up blood’ and being denied medical treatment for tuberculosis, his parents say.
“He sounded terrible and coughed up blood every day,” Reed’s mother, Paula, WFAA, told WFAA over the weekend in an interview from her and her husband. Texas home after a call from his son early Saturday morning – the first in almost eight months.
“We want to get him home before something really bad happens to him,” she told the network, along with her husband.
Reed, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2019 after allegedly assaulting two Russian police officers while drunk.
“We were so surprised to hear from him,” Joey Reid told the network about the call.
“It was 3am and we talked for about 15-20 minutes.”
Trevor Reid, a U.S. Marine currently serving a sentence in a Russian prison for an alleged attack on two Moscow police officers in 2019, is reportedly “coughing up blood” and being denied medical treatment for tuberculosis after coming into contact with another prisoner patients with this disease. parents say.
“He sounded terrible and coughed up blood every day,” Reed’s mother Paula (left) said in a sit-down interview with her husband Joey (right) and Reed’s sister Taylor from their Texas home. after a call from Reid early Saturday – the first in almost eight months
Prior to the call, the couple had not heard from their son for 232 days after he was transferred from a detention center in Moscow to a penal colony 217 miles east in Mordovia following a failed appeal in the case that resulted in Reid serving a nine-year sentence.
“He was the first friend in the world I ever had and I want to see him again,” Taylor, Reed’s sister, said.
Last month, US embassy officials said Reed, who had gone on a six-day hunger strike in November to protest his treatment by Russian authorities, had “long-term contact with another prisoner with active tuberculosis” in December.
“Trevor is now reporting that he is coughing up blood and has not received medical attention,” US Embassy spokesman Jason P. Rebholz said at the time in a February 16 tweet demanding that the Kremlin “provide Trevor with proper treatment.” Better yet, let him go.
Reed, 30, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2019 after allegedly assaulting two Russian police officers while drunk. Here he is pictured in a Moscow prison in 2019. He has since been transferred to a penal colony more than 200 miles east in Mordovia.
Reid’s family adds that the POW camp – one of five in the region – prevented their son from communicating directly with them or his lawyers for weeks.
They also testified that Reed had spent time in solitary confinement for refusing to do hard work.
The family is now asking for an audience with President Joe Biden, who called Reed’s return home a “priority” ahead of his scheduled visit to Fort Worth on Tuesday as tensions escalate between the US and Moscow amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Reeds say they hope to share what they learned about their son’s current treatment in the Russian camp with the president when he comes to Texas for a visit that will touch on issues related to American veterans.
If they are ultimately unable to meet with the president, the family, who live 40 miles west of Fort Worth in Granbury, say they plan to peacefully gather wherever the president ends up speaking to draw attention to their plight. son.
“We miss him terribly,” Paula Reed said during a sit-in interview. “He’s been gone too long.
Papa Joey added: “Imagine if your child was kidnapped and how you would feel.
“Then multiply that by 1000.”