‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Ice-T Reveals Wife Coco Austin’s Dad Has Permanent Lung Damage From COVID-19

Ice-T is opening up about how coronavirus has affected his family after wife Coco Austin‘s father was hospitalized for a month after contracting COVID-19. The rapper and Law & Order: SVU star gave an update on his father-in-law’s health on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, revealing that he would be dealing with permanent health problems for the rest of his life as a result of the infection.

“Coco’s dad is a Harley Davidson-riding, no-masking type of dude,” he told Fallon. “[Coronavirus] put him on his back.” Spending a month in the hospital, Ice said his father-in-law nearly had to be put on a ventilator after developing pneumonia in both lungs. “It took him a month to make it out of the hospital,” he explained. “Now he’s home, but his lungs are damaged indefinitely.” Ice further disclosed how he has been so vocal about his family’s battle with coronavirus due to some not taking the pandemic seriously. “There are still non-believers,” he said. “I’ve made it through so much in my life, I don’t want to die because of this — especially with a new daughter. I’m aware and I’m concerned and I’m cautious.”

Austin has also been sharing updates with her followers on social media, writing on Instagram on July 22, “He was given plasma treatments and Tociuzumba (a promising new COVID drug). But then another bump in the road came too when a lung started to collapse but recovered from that too.” The model added, “Everyday is baby steps and im excited to say today was his first day back home, but not completely out of the woods. He is teathered (sic) to a oxygen machine for who knows how long.”

On July 2, Austin opened up to Page Six about her family’s struggle with coronavirus, telling the publication she felt like her “family is falling apart.” Her openness about the diagnosis is because “I didn’t feel like my family could be touched,” she added, explaining that her father didn’t regularly wear a mask before he came down with coronavirus. “I think that’s why he’s in the position he is in right now,” she said, later begging the public, “Mask it up! How hard is it to mask it up?”