'Peace of Mind With Taraji': Karl-Anthony Towns Details Mom's COVID Battle With Taraji P. Henson in Exclusive Clip
Karl-Anthony Towns opened up about his mother's COVID-19 battle with Taraji P. Henson in the latest episode of Peace of Mind with Taraji. PopCulture.com obtained an exclusive clip of the Facebook Watch show, which airs every Monday at 12 p.m. ET. In the upcoming episode that will air this Monday, Henson asked the NBA superstar about his mom, who died of COVID-19 complications in April 2020.
"No one really knew what they were doing," Towns said in the clip. When asked about taking his mom to the hospital and not being able to go, Towns said: "It was difficult because I would talk to her all day, every day. As her son and someone who loves her so dearly, I just didn't want to see her in pain. I was just trying to do everything possible to make her comfortable and get her better quicker. I was doing everything in my power.
"...The one thing I know about this woman is we're connected. And I know she got a lot of fight left in her," he continued. "There's no way you're telling me she's close to that point. We made some moves, we moved her out of the hospital and got her in a better hospital. COVID causes a lot of swelling, and the swelling is what got my mom. ...She got a blood clot on the day she was going to get taken off the ventilator."
Towns' mother, Jacqueline Cruz-Towns, was 58 when she died. Karl-Anthony Towns' father, Karl Towns Sr., was also hospitalized for COVID-19. "Jackie was many things to many people — a wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend," the statement from the Towns family said, per the Associated Press. "She was an incredible source of strength; a fiery, caring, and extremely loving person who touched everyone she met. Her passion was palpable, and her energy will never be replaced."
Karl-Anthony Towns was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves No. 1 overall in the 2015 NBA Draft. And while the Timberwolves have only made the playoffs once in Towns' six seasons with the team, he has been one of the top players in the NBA. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2016 and was selected to play in the All-Star game in 2018 and 2019.