July 10, 2020 6:49 amPublished by Morgan RyanA former college football receiver made a LIFE-SAVING highlight — catching a 3-year-old child thrown from a burning building … and it was all captured on video.28-year-old Phillip Blanks — who played at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA — was at his home in Phoenix when he saw a nearby apartment was ablaze.Blanks decided to check out the scene to see if he could help … and noticed a 30-year-old mother preparing to throw her child off the balcony.lanks — who is also a retired U.S. Marine — immediately knew what he had to do … and sprinted to the ground below to save the boy from hitting the ground.
“Instinct. There wasn’t much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it,” Blanks said.“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.”Blanks rushed the child to safety … but the mother tragically passed away from the fire.“She’s the real hero of the story,” Blanks told the outlet. “Because she made the ultimate sacrifice to save her children.”The woman’s 3-year-old and 8-year-old were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for non-life threatening injuries.BTW — according to Blanks’ college bio, he’s related to Barry Sanders and Mike Conley.Truly heroic.
