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Odom, 35, the estranged husband of reality TV personality
Khloe Kardashian, has emerged from a coma and has been removed
from a ventilator that was assisting his breathing, the E!
online and television outlet reported, citing an unnamed source.
E! also reported that the 35-year-old National Basketball
Association veteran had opened his eyes, saw Kardashian at his
bedside and said to her, "Hey, baby," then gave her a thumbs-up
sign before falling back to sleep.
Celebrity news website TMZ.com reported earlier in the day,
citing unnamed sources, that cardiac tests revealed that Odom's
heart function had much improved. According to a separate
account in USA Today attributed to a person at the hospital,
Odom opened his eyes on Friday morning and appeared to be
responding to voices and other noise in the room.
Kardashian, 31, who has been in the midst of divorce proceedings
with her husband, has nevertheless remained with him since
shortly after he was admitted to the Sunrise Hospital and
Medical Center in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
The couple split in 2013 after a whirlwind romance and marriage
that was chronicled on the reality television show "Keeping Up
with the Kardashians" and its spinoff series, "Khloe & Lamar."
Although the couple signed divorce papers in July, the divorce
has not yet been finalized by a judge and they are still legally
married.
Neither the Kardashians nor Odom's representatives have given
any official updates on the athlete's condition since he
collapsed at a legal brothel in Nevada called the Love Ranch and
was found unresponsive.
Authorities and brothel staff said he had used cocaine during
his four-day stay at the ranch, and had taken as many as 10
tablets of an herbal sexual-enhancement supplement capable of
dramatically lowering blood pressure and interacting with other
medications.
Despite Odom's 14 years as an NBA player, including two
championship seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, U.S. media
have largely focused this week on his brief membership in the
most famous family on reality television.
Celebrity media, citing sources close to the family or at the
hospital, reported on Thursday that Odom was comatose and on
life support, that he had suffered a series of strokes and
kidney failure and that doctors were giving him a 50-50 chance
of survival.
Odom's two teenage children from a previous relationship issued
a statement thanking his fans for their "outpouring of prayers
and support for our dad."
"We appreciate everyone respecting our privacy at this time. We
ask for your continued prayers," said Destiny and Lamar Odom Jr.
Cable channel E! says it is not filming for the reality show in
Las Vegas but has not said how it plans to handle Odom's
situation when the show is due to resume broadcasts next month.
(Reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles;
Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant in New York; Editing by
Andrew Hay)
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