NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns’ mom dies after battle with coronavirus
NBA STAR Karl-Anthony Towns' mom has died from coronavirus-related complications.
Jacqueline Towns was hospitalized on March 25, and put in a medically-induced coma.
Towns' father Karl Sr. was also admitted to hospital with COVID-19-like symptoms, but was discharged and has recovered.
"Jackie was many things to many people — a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend,” a spokesperson said, in a post on .
"The matriarch of the Towns family, she was an incredible source of strength; a fiery, caring and extremely loving person, who touched everyone she met. Her passion was palpable and her energy will never be replaced."
The Minnesota Timberwolves player said it seemed as if his mother had turned a corner, but quickly went "sideways" and was put on a ventilator.
Shortly after his mother was placed into a coma, Towns posted an emotional video on Instagram asking the public to take the coronavirus seriously.
“I think it’s important that everyone understands the severity of what’s happening in the world right now with this coronavirus,” said Towns in the five-minute .
He recalled a conversation he had with his mother before her coma: "She was telling me things I didn’t want to hear. I dismissed some things she was saying because it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.
"It’s very difficult for me and my family, to say the least. She’s the head of our household, she’s the boss."
He remained positive in the video, adding: "Me and my family, we’re going to keep fighting this. … We’re gonna win.
"Life may keep throwing punches at me but I’m gonna keep getting back up and I ain’t gonna quit at any time, and neither will my whole family and neither will my mother."
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The spokesperson for the Towns family said the "outpouring of love and support" had been received with gratitude.
"They would like to thank the medical warriors at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and JFK Medical Center, who fought for Jackie day in and day out, and helped Karl Sr. recover from the same virus that took Jackie’s life."
There have been 23,070 deaths from COVID-19 in the US alone, with the country reporting 572,169 cases.
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