Lamar's recent drug-related hospitalization was allegedly impacted by the death of his best friend Jamie Sangouthai back in June.
- Oct 17, 2015
AceShowbiz - Lamar Odom's recent drug-related hospitalization was impacted by the recent death of his best friend Jamie Sangouthai. Jamie's father Guillermo Castillo told New York Daily News in a phone interview that Lamar was crushed when Jamie died from a heroin-related infection in June and desperately needed an intervention to pull him back from edge.
"I think Lamar is done. I think most of it is because he missed my son so much. I think deep inside they had a death wish, or a wish to die together. It sounds very cold-blooded, but I have a hard time controlling my emotions," Guillermo said. "They were so close. They wouldn't even go to the bathroom without asking the other. They couldn't live without each other. They went through a lot together - very powerful and beautiful times together."
According to Guillermo, Lamar quickly reached out to him to offer condolences when knowing Jamie passed away. "Lamar called me and said he was sorry. I told him, 'I'm a street kid, walk the F away from everything right now because Hollywood is going to eat you up and spit you out too.' But he had money and status. Why would he listen to me?"
Guillermo said he wished someone would have forced Lamar into rehab at any cost. He understood when Khloe Kardashian first broke things off with Lamar in 2013. "What could Khloe could do? She had a man every woman wanted to go to bed with," Guillermo said, referring to the couple's divorce. "I think she really loved him, and I don't think she could have done any other thing."
"But I'm also sure, 200 percent, that everybody saw the signs that Lamar needed serious help. Did anyone say, 'Hey Lamar, let's go to a rehab center. We're going to try to save you so you don't end up like Jamie.' Did anybody do that?" he added.
Guillermo said his son and Lamar got close to each other when they moved to Los Angeles. "My son and Lamar were like brothers. When Lamar's mother passed away, my son became his family. The mother of my son became like his mother," he shared. "They were very big athletes, and went on to be successful, but then they were getting into drugs here, there and all over."
Jamie was addicted to painkillers after a major surgery on his abdomen. He went to rehab but failed. "I said to my son, 'You're lost in life. You're 37 and extremely smart, so what is it going to take for you to walk away?' I tried to talk to him, but he went back, and I knew that he wasn't going to get better. Then in June they found him on the street with an infection from dirty needles or bad heroin. The doctor told me to say goodbye because he only had a 5 percent chance of living."
Guillermo hopes Lamar avoids a similar fate to his son. "Drugs are drugs. They don't pardon anyone," he said, "The message I have is, I hope everybody takes a look at this and says no to drugs."
