Ice-T opens up about his family's 'scary' experience with COVID-19

Because "there's still nonbelievers" out there, rapper and Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T shared his family's close call with COVID-19 on The Tonight Show Wednesday evening. "It's easy to say, 'Oh, I can't catch it," he told Jimmy Fallon."But once you know people... I know about eight people who've passed away. So, I don't need more proof than that that I don't wanna play with it."

Ice-T's father-in-law, Steve Austin, was one of the nonbelievers who contracted the coronavirus. "I hate to say it, but Coco's dad is a Harley Davidson-riding, no-mask-wearing type of dude. And it put him on his back," he recalled.

As he explained, Austin remained home for nine days with COVID-19. "By the time he went to the hospital, he had pneumonia in two lungs," he continued. "They held him for about three days in the ICU. Then they call you and make those next-of-kin calls, and that's when it's scary. We might have to put him on a ventilator. And it took him a month to make it out of the hospital, God bless him. Now he's home, but his lungs are damaged indefinitely. COVID attacks your lungs and it can leave your lungs ruined."

Ice-T had come to Arizona with his family from New York City, where filming on SVU was put on hold when the city was initially becoming an epicenter for the pandemic. He then found no one around him in Arizona was taking the spread seriously. "We came to Arizona thinking it was safer and it spiked here," he said.

The actor thanked everybody who helped Austin, but noted all the people out there who still don't believe the illness can hurt them or those around them. After sharing this story initially on Instagram, Ice-T said, "One guy wrote me and was like, 'You seem scared.' Yeah, I'm scared of your contaminated breath, okay? Is there a problem with that?

"I've made it through so much in my life. I don't wanna die because of this, and especially with a new daughter," he continued. "So, yeah. I'm aware and I'm concerned and I'm cautious. If you wanna call that scared, call it scared."

For the latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19), including how to protect yourself and what to do if you think you are sick, please visit coronavirus.gov.

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