Superstar boxer Kim Clavel has been honored with the coveted Pat Tillman Award for Service after leaving the boxing ring to don scrubs during the coronavirus outbreak.
“Kim Clavel was on the verge of a boxing breakthrough, but when the coronavirus pandemic struck, she put one career aside for another,” a tweet from ESPN read ahead of the annual ESPY Awards. The post was noted by People magazine in a piece published Monday. (RELATED: See Pat Tillman’s Sports Illustrated Cover After His Death From 14 Years Ago)
Thank you very much @espn https://t.co/awKgly2JWr
— Kim clavel (@KKlavel) June 22, 2020
The 29-year-old boxing champion decided to leave her boxing career and return to work as a nurse to help out during the pandemic because she was “born to do it.”(RELATED: This Arizona Cardinals’ Thanksgiving Day Military Promo Will Get Your Blood Pumping [Photo])
“I worked in the COVID zone,” Clavel explained in a video biography that aired with the award show. “It’s really hard, when everything gets dark, they think about their life … I sing, I talk with them and maybe make them smile. To see these people die alone, without their family — for me it’s not humanity. They need humanity.”
“My need to help is bigger than my scared,” she said about her work in a Montreal elder care facility after the coronavirus hit.
The boxing champion told ESPN that it “is an honor to receive the Pat Tillman Award on behalf of all the health care workers battling COVID-19 on the frontlines.”
“Although recently I have pursued my dream of boxing, helping people is my passion and I’m proud to be able to make a difference,” she added.
Thank you very much @espn https://t.co/awKgly2JWr
— Kim clavel (@KKlavel) June 22, 2020
For those that might not be aware, the award honors others athletes like Pat Tillman, who walked away from a successful career in the NFL after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 to serve in the military.
In 2004, he was killed in action while serving in Afghanistan. He was 28.