LI Man's Brother Drugged, Robbed, 'Left For Dead' On Vacation

SPRINGS, NY — It was a Mother's Day that no one in Tom House's family will ever forget: His brother, John, 69, who had gone on a vacation to Colombia, was found drugged, robbed, and left for dead in his hotel room.

House, who lives in Springs, has been documenting the nightmare on social media. "Friends, please keep my brother and family in mind. Incredulously, I am on my way to Colombia, a trip I would never have imagined making, least of all now," he said.

John, who had been on vacation in Medellin, was found by a hotel worker who raced him to a local hospital. "If not for her, it's quite possible I'd be writing an obituary instead of a plea for communal hope," he said.

The hotel worker was the first in a sea of good Samaritans who have stepped forward to lift House up during the darkest of days as he scrambled to find a way to Columbia, to be by his brother's side.

On Tuesday, House said, John's condition deteriorated rapidly. "He was intubated and was expected to die," he said.

But as of this week, John had shown signs of improvement and movement — and on Wednesday, he was removed from the respirator.

After a sea of mishaps, including a rush to renew his passport and then, a flight that was mistakenly never booked, House made it to Medellin and Clinica Las Vegas Saturday morning, where, at the time John was unconscious and on life support.

"I was able to stay in the room and talk with him for several hours, though his eyes remain closed. And I was able to hold the phone close to him so our mom and niece and other family members and friends could speak to him," he said.

The struggles have been seemingly insurmountable at times, with House trying valiantly to navigate a communication barrier both at the hospital and with Medellin police. He's had to cut through red tape and navigate new channels to reach the U.S. embassy in Bogota.

And yet, in the darkness, there were rays of light and hope: "There were many, and especially four, people in Medellin who came to our aid in amazing ways: Fabian Castaneda" — a relative of a neighbor's worker in the Hamptons — "who picked me up at the airport, drove me close to the hospital, and even gave me pesos in the car so I wouldn't spend time searching out an ATM. Sargento Conde met me at the hospital at 2 p.m. and got everything started with pressing charges. Santiago Velasquez, the last and most essential person at the police station, spent hours filing the case itself, all with a compassionate and aimable spirit. And above all, there is the amazingly patient and thoroughly good Laura Cristina, the hotel receptionist who found John unconscious in his room on Sunday and called an ambulance," he said.

Cristina stayed with House for five of the seven hours he spent with police and at the police station "with explanations and painstaking translations that would have tried the patience of several saints. The end result — I finally left with a copy of a filed case. At many points, it seemed that would not happen. We also have the promise of the police to begin acting. They will visit John at the hospital to determine if the suspect not only drugged him to what might have been a lethal degree, but intended murder. The hope is they will be arrested imminently," House said.

Later in the week, signs of hope continued to stir optimism.

Although John had remained unconscious and on the ventilater, his eyes began to open while House was speaking with their mother, who lives in Florida, on speaker.

"I have a small bluetooth speaker here in the room, and I've been playing some of the music I know he loves — those of you who know John, know of his passion for classic rock. If he can hear, that will be a solace to him, for sure," he said.

Complicating the effects of the powerful drugs he was given, John was also found to have pneumonia and arrhythmia; the arrhythmia has since resolved.

"Earlier he had acute renal failure, but that is now under control. He is responding well to antibiotics. The doctors did say they do not expect brain damage. Fingers crossed," he wrote.

House thanked those on the East End who had reached out to Senator Chuck Schumer and also to Rep. Nick LaLota, who House said was instrumental in expediting his passport renewal. He was finally able to connect with the United States embassy.

A note in response to House's questions read, this week: "'A colonel sends them to give the greatest importance to the case. They are from the GAULA anti-kidnapping group. The police are moving heaven and earth to advance the case and capture the one who did the damage to John.' Let's hope what he says is true," House said.

On Wednesday, John's eyes were open for a bit when House arrived. "They are still partly open at times. He blinked his eyes in response to some questions. I played one of his favs, 'Shine on You Crazy Diamond', and I think he was trying to sing along to it," he wrote.

Speaking with Patch, House said he's been operating in "crisis mode." On Tuesday, he said, his brother showed "remarkable" improvement. "The sedation has been stopped, so that explains this drastic change. He was clearly trying to communicate with me — telling me which music he enjoyed, etc., mostly with his eyes and eyebrows. The physical therapist came in once and we did some of the mobility exercises together. I explained some of them to John and he did move his legs a few times on his own."

His brother, though, was often agitated and even seemingly angry, unable to say what was bothering him, House said.

"I was told this is normal and not to take it personally. It was hard to see, though."

Of seeing his brother angry and bewildered, House told Patch: "'It s----' is not strong enough."

Taken off the ventilator Wednesday, John is "delirious and hallucinatory, only sometimes rational and reasonable," House said. "They say this is normal and he will have a psychiatric evaluation this afternoon. He still has pneumonia and heart issues. After the pneumonia is gone, they will reevaluate to see when he may be able to travel."

House said his brother normally lives in Florida, where he has been caring for their mother since their sister's death from endometrial cancer last June.

"He was going on vacation, he needed a break — and then this happened," House said. His brother arrived in Columbia on the Thursday before Mother's Day — and the drugging and robbery happened on Mother's Day itself.

"He was meeting a friend," House said. "My mom didn't hear from him all day on Mother's Day and then we found out he was in the hospital."

Describing the horrifying details, House said that to the best of their knowledge, someone put a very high dose of benzodiazepines in his drink, three times the normal dose.

"It was enough to make him unconscious so he could be robbed of everything he had. He was found in his hotel room unconsciouss; luckily, the hotel staff knew he was supposed to check out and fly home so they checked on him."

What followed was an experience rife with confusion and terror. Suddenly, House and his niece began receiving messages from John's phone, asking for money. At first, he said, they thought he'd lost his phone. But then came a message on What's App in Spanish, saying John was "in very bad shape, and unconscious, in the clinic."

House contacted the friend his brother had been slated to meet and said, "You need to go to the clinic and see if this is true." The texts demanding money, up to $4,500, were continuing and confusing, House said.

But when the friend arrived at the hospital, House learned that his brother had been admitted. The frustration over the communication barrier mounted; finally an international patient coordinator was able to explain what had happened.

House said the embassy so far has not been able to offer much hope or help except with repatriation, when his bother is able to travel home.

Meanwhile, in the hospital, while at first the thought was that John would begin to improve once the drugs had worked their way through his system,"he wasn’t able to tolerate the strength of whatever drugs he was given. It did not pass through and then on Tuesday we got information that he’d been intubated," he said.

Last Wednesday, his brother's friend was called to the hospital "because he was the only physical person that was there" and told he had to come to the hospital immediately. "They thought he was dying," House said.

House sprang into action, but found his passport needed renewal and then, the snafu in his flight reservations. Finally, he got a red eye to Columbia — and that's when kindness began to create a path of hope in the midst of chaos.

"This is amazing," House said. "Here on the East End, across the street my neighbor has a landscaper from Columbia. He alerted his family in Medellin, and one of his family members picked me up at the airport gave me pesos so I wouldn’t have to go to the ATM."

He was just one of the many who came together to offer support. "There was this one bad actor. But so many people from Columbia have told me, 'You know, we are not all like that.' So many people have come to my aid."

And, while at first, there was the long haul to Columbia, and "every possibility that he would die," now, the future looks brighter.

House was fearful not just for his brother but for their mother, about to be 89 in Florida. "There's just the three of us left in my family now," he said. "We used to be six, now we are three." Besides the loss of their sister last year, they lost a brother years ago and their father, three years ago.

"My mother said, at one point, 'You know what? I see his eyes opening. I see the two of you walking through the door together. That's what I believe.' Then she said, 'No God would take two of my kids in one year.'"

When he entered John's room, House brought love — and a blue tooth hooked up to Spotify with his brother's favorite playlist of Led Zeppelin, the Beatles, The Who.

"Today when I walked in, and I played the 17-minute version of Pink Floyd's 'Shine On, You Crazy Diamond,' I swear, he was singing to it," House said. The song was stirringly apt, he added. His brother murmured the word "mejor." The word means "better."

Looking ahead, House said what's needed urgently is clear communication with the police and the embassy so whoever did this to his brother can be brought to justice. He is uncertain, too, how much help will be needed to bring his brother home to the United States.

House is trying to hold tightly to goals: He vows he will be home in time for the Hamptons Pride Parade on June 3 that he founded. He's eager to thank the many from the East End and afar who have helped.

"Many other good Samaritans have appeared," House said. "Forever thanks and love to the greatest Samaritan, Cheryl House Temple , whose beautiful and tireless spirit is holding things together for our mom and family in Florida. And to her friend, our angel intérprete, Yoly Giha Guerra, and to another good Samaritan in New York, our Aunt Carolyn, and to Denise McRedmond, Adam Saccardi, William Gonzalez, Fabian Castaneda — the list goes on, and I will try to keep listing. We would be lost without you." He added: "Friends, we're bolstered and overwhelmed by the outpour of kindness, love, and concern for John."

Asked what the first thing he will say to his brother when they are able to speak, House said, a smile in his voice: "Welcome back. Next time let’s go to Medellin under different circumstances, please."