A desperate mother throws her 3-year-old son from a burning apartment balcony to save him and a young man manages to catch the plunging infant
Sometimes, we find ourselves becoming heroes without even meaning to. Acting quickly is vital in an accident or emergency situation and not everyone has the speed or presence of mind to make critical decisions in a fraction of a second. Phillip Blank found himself at the scene of a fire and, without hesitation, used his skills as an ex-football receiver to save the life of a 3-year-old boy. The scene filmed by people at the fire, shows the dramatic moments: a desperate mother had to throw her 3-year-old child from the third floor in order to save him from the flames that were engulfing their apartment. Luckily, young Phillip was there to catch him as the infant plunged to the ground.
Philip is the young man on the left
On the day of the fire, Philip Blanks heard a commotion outside his house and had gone out to check what was going on. He half-expected to find himself in the middle of a fight, but the truth was dramatically different. A fire had broken out on the third floor of a nearby apartment block. People were screaming and crying and, most destressingly, the pleas of a mother who was trying to get her 3-year-old son to safety could be heard. No mother should be forced to take extreme action to save their child, but this lady had only seconds to do what she had to do. And what she chose to do was to throw her baby from the third floor in order to save him from the flames. Philip Blanks, the 28-year-old man, who had just left the house to check what was going on, threw himself in the direction of the falling boy and, just like a football player would, caught the little boy and saved his life. This catch was certainly the most important of his entire career, indeed - of his entire life!
The video of the scene is pretty dramatic - you have been warned.
Everything happened in a flash and before he could even process what happened, Philip was holding a terrified child in his arms. As mentioned before, Philip played football at a California college. He later also served in the Marines. Today he works in the security field, which suits his personality well. Philip said: "In our family I was raised to help others" says the young man, who certainly did not expect to become a local hero. In addition to the baby boy, his older sister, an eight-year-old girl, was also saved by another onlooker - D'Artagnan Alexander, 42, who ran into the burning building to save the girl.
Blanks, however, doesn't consider himself a hero: "I only did what I had to do at that moment." And maybe it is people like Philip that are the true heroes, don't you think?
