Lamar Odom Pens Heartbreaking Essay On Waking Up From Coma: "I Shook Hands With Death"

Lamar Odom has published a heartbreaking essay in The Players' Tribune detailing what it was like when he first woke up from his coma in 2015. A paragraph in the piece says Lamar Odom was "surprised" to see Khloé Kardashian when he first woke up. The piece is vivid and descriptive as he details exactly what was going through his head in that moment. 

Odom says when he woke up from his coma in a hospital room in Nevada, he couldn't talk or move. He wrote in his Players' Tribune essay, "I was trapped inside my own body," adding, "My ex-wife [Khloé Kardashian] was there in the room with me. After all the sh*t I had done, I was surprised to see her. Honestly, that's when I knew that I was probably in bad shape."

Odom reveals that once he woke up, his doctor said to him, “It's a miracle that you're here. We didn't think you were going to make it.” The entire piece details his time in the hospital, but he also talks about the other hardships he's gone through in his life long before Khloé Kardashian ever came into the picture. He says near the end that he "shook hands with death," but that it reminded him of all the good he has in his life.

He said, "It kind of reminded me of who I was, and what I've meant to some people." Odom then talks about his daily routine now that he's back in a healthy lifestyle. Every morning, he apparently looks at photos of loved ones who have died and those still in his life, like his kids. He said,

I just look at their faces for a few minutes, and it's like a reminder of what life is supposed to be about. I feel warm. I feel an energy. I feel love. That sh*t gets me through the day. It's like taking my vitamins.

In October of 2015, Odom overdosed on drugs that landed him in a coma lasting four days after spending time at a brothel in Las Vegas. His ex-wife, Khloé, and other members of the Kardashian family stayed with him in the hospital while he was in the coma and after he woke up.

Following the nearly-fatal overdose, and after his divorce from Khloé Kardashian was finalized, Odom checked himself into rehab.