Wide receiver catches child thrown from burning building

PHOENIX, AZ (KABC/WTVQ)-It wasn’t a game-saving catch, but a life-saving one former college wide receiver Phillip Blanks made July 3rd in Phoenix, Arizona.

He dove to catch a three-year-old boy thrown from the balcony of a burning building.

“Instinct. There wasn’t much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it,” he told TV station KABC.

The 28-year-old was a wide receiver at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo for the 2016-2017 season. He also served in the U.S. Marines and now works in security.

He said he heard a lot of noise outside his building July 3rd. He thought maybe it was a fight, but he heard someone yelling, “Fire!”

He says he ran out barefoot, saw the child being tossed, and reacted with perfect timing.

“He was twirling in the air like a propeller,” he said. “I just did my best. His head landed perfectly on my elbow. His ankle got twisted up as I was diving. The guy who was there with me – it looked like he wasn’t going to catch him. So that’s why I stepped in. I just wanted to make a better catch.”

The child’s 30-year-old mother died in the fire, throwing her child as flames covered her.

“She’s the real hero of the story,” Blanks said. “Because she made the ultimate sacrifice to save her children.”