Karl-Anthony Towns’ mom is on life support, he’s begging you to stay home

Karl-Anthony Towns opened up on social media, sharing that his mother is on a ventilator from COVID-19. He’s begging you to take the pandemic seriously.

On Tuesday, Timberwolves’ star Karl-Anthony Towns shared an emotional message on social media, first on Instagram and then reposted to YouTube. Both of his parents have tested positive for COVID-19 and his mother’s condition has degraded to the point that she is currently on life support, relying on a ventilator to breathe.

It’s great to hear that Towns’ father has been released from the hospital and is recovering in quarantine at home but that’s just half the battle. You can’t help but feel for Towns as he lets the world in on the pain and crisis that’s consuming his family, as he walks through the details of how her illness has progressed over the past week.

For many of us, the stories of those who have contracted COVID-19 are still abstract, lines on a graph, numbers in a table, anecdotes in news reports. Towns is hoping that sharing his story will help encourage others to make the right decisions to help stop the spread of the disease.

“I made this video to make people understand the severity of this disease, practice social distancing, please don’t be in places with a lot of people. It just highers your chances of getting this disease, and this disease is deadly.”

The pain on his face is a compelling call for changing behaviors and if anyone hasn’t gotten the message by now, hopefully, this is what finally delivers it. Do what you can to protect yourself, your family, your friends and everyone in your community. We’re all counting on you.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.