Jacqueline Cruz has died, the Minnesota Timberwolves confirmed via Twitter . The mother of Wolves’ center Karl-Anthony Towns passed away due to complications from COVID-19.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) April 13, 2020
According to The Twin Cities Pioneer Press , Jacqueline had been placed in a medically induced coma just days after being admitted to the hospital after experiencing symptoms of the disease that were not improving at home.
Jacqueline Cruz Reportedly Battled COVID-19 For Nearly A Month
According to KMSP-TV , Jacqueline Cruz had been suffering from coronavirus-related symptoms for nearly a month before she passed away on Monday, April 13.
On March 25, Karl-Anthony took to Instagram to share the story of his family’s battle with the coronavirus, emploring his followers and fans to protect themselves and to take the virus seriously. In the video, he addressed fans directly for almost six minutes, sharing that his father, Karl Towns Sr., had also been admitted to the hospital but had been released and told to quarantine at home.
“We all assumed my mom had COVID-19 due to just the symptoms she was exhibiting. And she was deteriorating daily. And the day that she was feeling great, we talked and she felt she turned a corner, I felt that she was turning the corner, I knew there were more days to come, but I felt that we were heading in the right direction,” Karl-Anthony explained.
Shortly thereafter, the Towns family was told by doctors that Jacqueline would have to be put on a ventilator as her “lungs were getting worse.” Karl-Anthony was with his mother up until the moment she was placed in the medically induced coma.
“I told her how much I love her. She was telling me things that I didn’t wanna hear. So I dismissed some things that she was saying because it wasn’t something I wanna hear.”
The family has yet to issue an official statement about Jacqueline’s death, nor has an update been provided about Karl Sr.’s current health status.
Karl-Anthony Towns Represented His Mother’s Heritage In The 2012 Olympics
Jacqueline Cruz and her husband were also the parents of two daughters — Malaika Singleton-Towns and Lachelle Towns. Jackie, as she was known to her friends, was a native of the Dominican Republic, and the Towns children grew up fully exposed to their mother’s heritage.
When they were growing up in Edison, NJ, Karl and his sister spent many weekends at their maternal grandmother’s house in nearby Perth Amboy enjoying traditional Dominican cuisine and culture, as Karl-Anthony’s cousin Michael Quezada told The Undefeated .
In the months leading up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Karl-Anthony made his professional basketball debut playing in a qualifying match-up against Team USA as part of the Dominican national squad.
“It was really special to me,” he told The Undefeated. “ It was a chance to represent my mother and a big part of my family. It was an amazing experience. I was very excited. When an opportunity like presents itself, it’s hard to say no.”
Unfortunately, Karl-Anthony and his teammates couldn’t defeat the American team led by Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. And his decision to represent his mother’s home country made Karl-Anthony ineligible to play for Team USA in 2016.