Khloe Kardashian gives first interview since Lamar Odom’s health crisis

The entire basketball world has had its eyes on Lamar Odom since October 13, when he was found unconscious in a Nevada brothel and hospitalized. It was a near-death experience for Odom, who had numerous drugs in his system at the time and by all accounts has been in a freefall in his personal life over the past few years. The worst of it seems to be in the past, but it was still an unbelievably scary moment for everybody, including Odom’s estranged wife, Khloe Kardashian, who has been at Odom’s bedside all month. Kardashian gave her first interview since the events to People magazine this week.

From the interview:

When she received the shocking news that day, “All I knew was I had to get there,” Kardashian says exclusively in this week’s issue of PEOPLE. “I had to get to him and make sure he was okay. I hate that he was in that situation. I wouldn’t want anybody in that situation, especially someone I love and care about.”

Kardashian added that even though she and Odom have called off their divorce, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting back together.

Though she remains loyal to the vows she once took, Kardashian says, “There are too many other important things, too many medical things. It’s not even in our brains thinking about us as a couple or having a relationship right now.”
“I loved him always, and I will always love him,” she says. “I don’t believe love is fickle. I believe when you love someone, you are allowed to love from afar. You don’t have to be with that person in order to love him.”

There’s plenty more to come when the full interview is published, and it should be interesting to get her extended thoughts on Odom. But most importantly, it’s great that he’s through the worst parts of this particular crisis and seems to be on the road to recovery, even if he has a long way to go.