Testifying to the brutality of life in North Korea, a recent defector from that nation has been found to be infested with parasitic worms.

The defector, a former soldier who was shot as he ran into South Korean territory earlier this week, is loaded with parasites. His South Korean doctor explains that “I’ve never seen anything like this in my 20 years as a physician.” One of the worms in the man’s body was 11 inches long.