No pro athlete has been hit harder during the COVID-19 Pandemic than Karl Anthony Towns. During the Minnesota Timberwolves’ media day on Friday, Towns revealed to everyone that he has lost a total of seven family members to the Coronavirus, including his mother Jacqueline Cruz.
“I’ve seen a lot of coffins in the last seven months,” Towns said. “I have a lot of people who have — in my family and my mom’s family — gotten COVID. I’m the one looking for answers still, trying to find how to keep them healthy. It’s just a lot of responsibility on me to keep my family well informed and to make all the moves necessary to keep them alive.”
Towns has been rather open about his recent struggles since the death of his mother. In a video posted back in early November, the All-Star said he was leaning on friends and family to get through life.
“I think for me, I think if I was to say how am I coping and how am I healing from this, I’m trying to heal myself through others,” Towns said at the time. “I’m trying to do as much as I can for my sister and my father. Trying to take care of my friends, and I’m trying to heal myself through them. It’s helped, but I think that one day, and I know it’s creeping up, I feel it every day, it’s gonna creep up, and I’m going to have to find a way to deal with it, actually.
Since the pandemic began, the United States has seen more than 13.3 million confirmed cases and over 267,000 deaths, by far the highest numbers in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
It’s unfortunate that the Coronavirus hit Towns’ family so hard. It should also serve as a reminder of just how deadly the virus is as so many try to downplay it.
