Karl-Anthony Towns reveals his mother is in coma with coronavirus in emotional Instagram post
Karl-Anthony Towns revealed in an emotional Instagram post late Tuesday night that his mother has been placed in a medically induced coma due to lung problems from COVID-19.
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The Minnesota Timberwolves star shared the story in hopes of bringing attention to the seriousness of the spread of coronavirus.
Karl-Anthony Towns shares his mother’s story with coronavirus
Towns’ mother, Jacqueline Cruz, has worked as a nurse, according to a 2019 profile of Towns.
Towns’ mother was ‘deteriorating daily’ from coronavirus
In the video, Towns said that he was told his parents weren’t feeling well early last week and that he told them to seek medical attention immediately.
His father was eventually released from the hospital and put into quarantine. He tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews, but is “recovering well.” His mother’s condition, however, worsened. Both were tested for the coronavirus, but he said it took days to get a result. Towns said his mother’s fever reached as high as 103 degrees and never went lower than 101.9 degrees with medications.
“She was very uncomfortable,” Towns said. “Her lungs were getting worse, her cough was getting worse. She was deteriorating in front of our eyes. We always thought the next medicine would help. This next one is going to get it done. ... She was deteriorating daily.”
After a day in which her condition appeared to have taken a turn for the better, her lungs deteriorated to the point that she needed to be placed in a medically induced coma and put on a ventilator. Towns hasn’t communicated with her since.
“She was telling me things that I didn’t want to hear,” Towns said. “I dismissed some things she was saying because it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.”
Towns said he was revealing his family’s struggle to advocate for the public to stay home and call for more resources for the medical personnel fighting the virus. Towns himself donated $100,000 to the Mayo Clinic earlier this month to support the roll-out of a coronavirus test.
“This disease is real. This disease needs not to be taken lightly. Please protect your families, your loved ones, your friends, yourself,” Towns said. “This disease, it’s deadly. We’re going to keep fighting, my side, me and my family, we’re going to keep fighting it. We’re going to beat it, we’re going to win.
“I hope my story helps.”
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