NBA star Karl Anthony-Towns makes emotional plea to public with mother in coma due to coronavirus symptoms

NBA star Karl Anthony-Towns has made an emotional plea to the public to self-isolate with his mother in a medically induced coma due to coronavirus symptoms.

Anthony-Towns reveals his mother, Jacqueline Cruz, experienced a high fever with her conditions continuing to deteriorate.

And in a six-minute video released on the player’s Instagram page, Anthony-Towns emphasised the importance of being checked immediately after spotting symptoms.

“I think it’s important that everyone understands the severity of what’s happening in the world right now with the coronavirus and I think where my life is right now could help so I decided to do this video and give you an update of where I’m at,” Towns said on Instagram.

“I was told early last week my parents weren’t feeling well. My first reaction to her was to go seek medical attention immediately. There’s no reason to wait, just go to the nearest hospital, and after a couple days of not showing any signs of improvement I was very adamant on the first day to go to a hospital and seek further evaluation.

“Specifically my sister told her she needs to get checked for corona. I don’t think anyone really understood what it was, with deteriorating condition. She kept getting worse, she kept getting worse and the hospital was doing everything they can. I was doing everything they can, everything I could, still am.

“She just wasn’t getting better. 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 as 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.”

Anthony-Towns then paid tribute to the importance of his mother to his family but urged the public to self-isolate and take the virus seriously.

“[My family] told me to make this video so that people understand that the severity of this disease is real,” Anthony-Towns added. “This disease needs to not be taken lightly.

“Please protect your families, your loved ones, your friends, yourself. Practice social distancing. Please don’t be in places with a lot of people, it just heightens your chances of getting this disease and this disease ... it’s deadly.

“It’s deadly. And we’re going to keep fighting on my side, me and my family, we’re going to keep fighting this. We’re going to beat it, we’re going to win.”

“She’s the boss. She’s been in a medically induced coma. It’s rough and day by day we’re just seeing how it goes. We’re being positive, I’m being very positive. So I’m just keeping the strength up for everybody and my family.”