Coco Austin is trying to stay strong from afar as her dad battles the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
On Wednesday, the former Ice Loves Coco star, 41, opened up to Page Six about how she feels her family is “falling apart” after her father Steve was hospitalized in Arizona due to the coronavirus. Austin said her dad has pneumonia in both lungs, and a ventilator may be necessary.
She said she wants him to “pull through” but shared that it’s “not looking good.”
“I’ve been sending as much love as I can, but there’s only so much I can do from a distance,” Austin told the outlet. “I want to be in the room with him right now and hold his hands, and just let him know that his family loves him, to push through, and this is too early for him to go.”
According to Austin, her father is “at the point where he can’t even talk,” and he’s become “so frustrated that he’s in this position that he doesn’t want to get on the phone.” The actress added that two of her aunts also contracted the coronavirus.
“It’s like, ‘Oh my God, like, my family is falling apart,’ ” Austin told Page Six. “We’re here thinking we came to Arizona to get away from the craziness in New York and New Jersey, and I feel like we now swallowed it up in the spike that just happened here.”
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Austin explained that her dad began experiencing symptoms on Father’s Day, at first feeling lethargic and noticeably less energetic. He then had trouble breathing and felt a pins-and-needles sensation, but didn’t seek treatment until nine days after the onset of the symptoms.
The actress — who shares 4-year-old daughter Chanel with husband Ice T — said she wants fans to learn from her situation and “know that I didn’t feel like my family could be touched.” She also stressed the importance of wearing a mask.
“To know that the most healthy person in this family is about to go on a ventilator, they’re talking about that, which is really hard because I’m pretty much the next of kin,” she said. “I have a really big family and they put it in my hands to make these decisions, so it’s been really hard to have to even talk about.”
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On Instagram, Austin shared family photos of herself with Steve, calling her father “tough as an ox” and adding that the diagnosis came as a surprise since he “never EVER gets sick.”
“My, tough as an ox dad, the one that never goes to the doctor, the one that doesn’t even take tylenol for pain, the one that never EVER gets sick, [we’re] talking about the original Steve Austin (cuz thats his real name) is in the ICU requiring oxygen for #covid19,” she wrote on Tuesday. “He is having trouble breathing and feels like he is being stabbed with pins throughout his body.”
“For all the people that say it can’t happen to your family..think again,” continued Austin. “Sending happy thoughts to my father and all the families that are dealing with it ❤.”
Ice T, 62, shared an update on his father-in-law’s health on Thursday, writing on Twitter that Steve is “trying his best to avoid going on the ventilator” while on his third day in the ICU.
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