Former NBA star Lamar Odom reportedly had drugs in his system, suffered brain damage


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Former NBA player and reality TV star Lamar Odom is on a ventilator after being found unconscious Tuesday in a Nevada brothel, sources close to Odom say.
He suffered brain damage and had at least one stroke, sources told E!, and he was found with multiple drugs in his system. Odom, 35, is in a Las Vegas hospital, with estranged wife Khloe Kardashian by his side, Rev. Jesse Jackson said. On Wednesday, Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly said investigators have determined that Odom used cocaine on Saturday, the day he arrived at Dennis Hof's Love Ranch in Crystal, Nevada. The sheriff's office also released audio of a 911 call from a woman who found Odom in his room; the woman says "there's blood coming out of his nose" and "white stuff coming out of his mouth." She also told the operator "he's not breathing."
Odom was first taken to a nearby hospital, but it was determined he needed to be flown to Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas; because of his height, he couldn't fit in a helicopter and had to be driven in an ambulance, but Nye County Fire Chief Scott Lewis said the extra time did not affect his care.
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A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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