Karl-Anthony Towns had his fair share of experiences with COVID-19. Towns was candid about his own dealings with the virus and the loss of several family members, including his mother, due to coronavirus-related complications in a recent appearance on Taraji P. Henson's Facebook Watch series Peace of Mind with Taraji.

“It was just one of those things,” Towns said of his mother’s struggle with the virus. “It just kept getting harder and harder and worse and worse on her, and no one really knew what they were doing. … As her son and someone who loves her so dearly, I just didn’t want to see her in pain, so I was trying to do everything possible to make her comfortable and get her better quicker.”

His mother, Jacqueline Towns, died in April 2020 of complications related to the virus, NBC News reports. Jacqueline was hospitalized and had to be put on a ventilator after she contracted the virus. On the day she was supposed to be taken off of the ventilator, doctors discovered a blood clot. 

“I flew in, I put the hazmat suit on and everything, and I went in there, because I was like ‘If anyone’s going to see her out, I’m going to see her out,’” Towns continued in the episode. “I knew it was going to be the last time, so I was kind of working that out.”

“That day changed me as a man,” he added. “I’m never going to get that innocent young boy back. That’s gone. … Ever since that day, I feel like the world just made me a little colder. It took what was most valuable to me, so I don’t have that kind of feeling for it.”

Towns was diagnosed with COVID-19 himself. While he was able to pull through, his experience was severe. According to Sports Illustrated, the athlete lost 50 pounds while in quarantine and was unable to play basketball between Jan. 15 to Feb. 10. 

“I’ve had a lot of situations this year where things were just too much for me,” Towns told the actress. “I just remember (quarantining) in the house, and it was more than just COVID for me. I felt like I was going through a holistic journey.”