The NBA star revealed the news via Instagram.
NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns is pleading with fans on social media to take COVID-19 measures seriously after his mother was placed in a medically induced coma as she battles with coronavirus symptoms. The Minnesota Timberwolves center posted an emotional video on his Instagram page early Wednesday.
Towns said that his parents both went to the hospital after feeling ill for a few days. While his father was discharged to quarantine, he said his mother's health "kept getting worse" because her cough and fever weren't improving. He said they haven't gotten the results yet but believes she has coronavirus, which has infected more than 55,000 people and killed over 800 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
"She was deteriorating," he said. "We always thought the next medicine would help. The next one would help. This is the one that's going to get it done. This one will make sure to get it done."
Towns and his mother thought she was turning the corner, but then she was having trouble breathing and had to be put on a ventilator.
"I was telling her how much I love her," he said. "She was telling me things I didn't want to hear. She's the head of our household. She's been in a medically induced coma since that day."
Towns urged people to listen to his warning and take the precautions necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus.
"This disease needs not to 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."
"We're gonna keep fighting this," he added. "We're gonna beat and we're gonna win. I know she'll beat this."
Towns also gave a heartfelt thank you to the medical staff helping his mother in his caption for the video. "You are all the true heroes! Praying for all of us at this difficult time."
This article was originally published on CBS News on March 25 at 9:34 am.
RELATED CONTENT:
