Karl-AnthonyTowns has already put his money where his mouth is, but he’s now pleading with everyone to take coronavirus seriously as it has apparently hit his family hard.
In a video released late Tuesday night, the Minnesota Timberwolves star revealed his mother is on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, as he suspects she has contracted the COVID-19 virus.
Towns, who donated $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic for coronavirus testing nearly two weeks ago, said both his mother and father recently fell ill and were tested for the virus that is raising hell on the entire world. According to Towns, his father was released from medical care and allowed to go home to quarantine, but his mother remained where her condition initially worsened.
“She kept getting worse, she kept getting worse,” he said. “The hospital was doing everything they can. I was doing everything I could. She just wasn’t getting any better. Her fever wasn’t cutting from 103, maybe going down to 101.9 with the meds and then immediately spike back up during the night. She was very uncomfortable. Her lungs were getting worse, her cough was getting worse. She was deteriorating. She was deteriorating before our eyes.”
After a brief improvement, things got worse for Jacqueline Cruz.
“They said that she went sideways and went sideways quick,” Towns said, fighting back tears. “Her lungs were extremely getting worse, and she was having trouble breathing. They explained to me she needed to be put on a ventilator, that she was getting worse. She was confused by everything, and I was trying to talk to her about everything and I was encouraging her to stay positive and talk through everything with her. I talked to her before she went there and told her I loved her. Every day I told her how much I love her. She was telling me things I didn’t want to hear, so I had to dismiss some of the things she was saying because it was things I didn’t want to hear.”
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For now, Towns says he’s hoping and praying his mother makes it through and comes out the other side. But he also took it on himself to use the experience as a way to spread awareness to the dangers of COVID-19 and the importance of social distancing.
“This disease needs to not be taken lightly,” he said. “Please protect your families, your loved ones, your friends, yourself. Practice social distancing, please don’t be in places with a lot of people. It just (increases) your chances of getting this disease is not — it’s deadly, it’s deadly. We’re gonna keep fighting on my side. Me and my family are gonna keep fighting. We’re gonna beat it and we’re gonna win.”
See the full video below.
