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Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns is urging fans on social media to protect themselves from the coronavirus after his mother was placed in a medically induced coma as she battles the coronavirus.

Towns said in an emotional video posted to his Instagram page on Tuesday that both of his parents went to the hospital after feeling ill for a few days.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Sharing my story in the hopes that everyone stays at home! We need more equipment and we need to help those medical personnel on the front lines. Thank you to the medical staff who are helping my mom. You are all the true heroes! Praying for all of us at this difficult time.

A post shared by Karl-Anthony Towns (@karltowns) on Mar 24, 2020 at 9:48pm PDT

While his father was discharged to quarantine, the health of his mother, Jacqueline Cruz, “kept getting worse” because her cough and fever weren’t improving.

The Timberwolves confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday that Cruz has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

“She just wasn’t getting better,” the 24-year-old Towns said. “Her fever was never cutting from 103, maybe go 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 — and we always felt that the next medicine would help. This is the one that’s going to get it done. This mixture is going to get it done.”



Towns said in the video that he hopes his story helps others during the coronavirus pandemic and that “everyone understands the severity of what’s happening in the world right now.”

As of Wednesday morning, more than 440,000 people around the world had been diagnosed with the disease, with more than 19,700 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)