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There comes a time in everyone's life when they must make a choice. Nothing shows what you're made of better than when you have to decide the path you take at the crossroads.
Jordan "KamiKaaze" Kaaze, along with two close friends and co-workers have taken a new path. A selfless, awe inspiring one. The 29 year old Minnesota native wasn't just an MMA fighter at INVICTA; her "day job" was that of an ICU nurse.
Thankfully, the coronavirus hasn't ravaged Minnesota like other parts of the country. Jordan heard NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's call for help loud and clear. She told her 2 friends about it. Instead of trying to talk her out of it they got on board with her. Due to red tape they had another choice - Stay in St. Paul or give notice and leave. The 3 courageous young ladies were then in a car driving all the way to NYC.
Kaazi's fight against the coronavirus
Being in the belly of the beast she's in a hospital that is basically a giant ICU now. The recently turned pro fighter was told not to disclose the hospital.
She has said, "what I see at the hospital is all these staff members banding together, creating a plan, and executing the plan. Walking out the door and being able to say I kept a patient alive is a big accomplishment for me. I knew I was coming out here to the unknown and people want all the details. It's hard to fully explain the situation, because I see the dark and light of it". She continued on with, "The rules change every day, which, I'm flexible.Some days we've got more equipment than the next so we kind of fly by the seat of our pants and use what we got".
Kamikaaze doesn't like being called a hero. She feels those that were in New York from Day 1 fit that title more. It turns out she will be here for 8 weeks doing the work of an angel before going back home to Minnesota. She will then quarantine for 2 weeks before going back to her old job which she still has.
She hopes that things can get back to normal soon so she can return to her love of fighting. Jordan was asked about Dana White's "Fight Island", and she uttered the feeling of many others. That they're walking a very fine line and there needs to be a plan in place for adequate testing before any fights can happen because the sport is such a close contact sport. Especially since someone can be a-symptomatic and then pass it to others.
Much like so many others in the medical field she's utterly drained after a shift, needing 60 minutes to get out of her gear. Kaaze admits we're far from having the virus under control but we're getting there. She finished up with an analogy she uses. "You don't stop taking your antibiotics because you feel better. You've got to finish the course".
She won her last 6 as an amateur before stepping into the INVICTA cage in October 2019. And thoughts of returning to Spartan MMA and the Shannon Knapp led organization soon keep her going.
