In an emotional and powerful YouTube video titled “The Toughest Year Of My Life,” Karl-Anthony Towns talks about the death of his mother, Jackie Cruz-Towns, due to COVID-19, and how that impacted him.
It is hard to watch, and it is incredibly moving as he talks about his decision to pull the plug on his mother, who was in a coma then suffered a stroke from the disease. He talked about making that decision as what was being done to keep her alive was harming her, and doctors said she would never return to a meaningful life.
Towns discussed how his family members were talking with his mother remotely, laughing and telling stories about the old times, as she passed away.
“She was sent off with laughter,” Towns said through tears.
Towns, the All-Star center of the Minnesota Timberwolves, also opened up about how he is handling this.
“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. 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. That’s why I wanted to do this. I thought this would be therapeutic for me to admit that these things are real and how I feel is real and being able to try to find some normalcy.”
It’s a video worth watching.
Too many Americans, families to more than 233,000 people and counting, have their own stories of dealing with loss due to this disease.