The wrenching video, captured on a cellphone, shows Blanks sprinting toward the 3-year-old child and diving to catch him mere milliseconds before the boy would have hit the ground.... Blanks said his time in the Marines, coupled with his athletic training as a wide receiver in high school and college, prepared him for this moment. The Marines taught him to “always be on high alert, not be complacent and to have discipline,” he said.... “Saving this child changed my entire perspective,” Blanks said. “It made me realize how short life is, and how we need to protect each other and treat people better.”
July 9, 2020
"People started yelling for the lady to throw her kids down... I immediately got tunnel vision of the baby and somehow managed to catch him."
Said Phillip Blanks, quoted in "A former high school football player dove and caught a child dropped from the balcony of a burning building" (WaPo).
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45 comments:
Probably already invited to the white House.
Beautiful.
Thanks for posting.
Saddleback college is about a mile from my home in Mission Viejo before I left California. I took some classes there in 1995 and 96.
It sure looks like he ran right in front of some other guy who was ready to catch the kid...though maybe not, as this better video seems to show.
What happened to the lady?
The other guy was already in position to catch him. Looks more like Blanks played defensive back, although the fact that he actually did catch the kid belies that hypothesis.
The mother should have jumped afterwards. Very sad.
Dude - you are the man.
Sorry to hear about the mother. what a horrible fire. wow.
The Marines taught him to “always be on high alert, not be complacent and to have discipline,” he said.... “Saving this child changed my entire perspective,” Blanks said. “It made me realize how short life is, and how we need to protect each other and treat people better.”
This guy is a real man. A real hero.
Warms my heart.
100% opposite of a leftwing progressive rage-filled racist Antifa-fascist basement dwelling mommy's boy.
The only problem is, when he was out of frame he celebrated the catch by spiking the baby : )
But seriously folks, I believe there was another story like this just a few years ago.
And would't it be better to fall 20 or 30 feet and break your legs than die?
The USMC training made him a weapon of war ready to react.
Just think, this former marine saved a child and he wont receive anywhere near the praise from the left that Howard's Heroes receive when they kill a child while "protesting".
To his further credit, rather than bask in the attention of his good choice, he deferred to the sacrifice of the mother to save her child. Semper fi.
“It made me realize how short life is, and how we need to protect each other and treat people better.”
Wise advice that.
Who cares if the other guy was ready to do the catching, this guy didn't seem to know. If he did and decided to defer the kid probably would have fallen between them to the ground; like a misplayed pop-up in baseball.
Hero is a good word for him.
Yeah, but they didn't show him spiking the kid in the end-zone.
;)
May have been an interception but still a great catch.
Wow. That was amazing. I'm so sorry the mother didn't make it.
In the spirit of "There are no ex-Marines," I think the Corps should reactivate him for the purpose of awarding him the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.
And then I did what I should have done, read the linked article.
So the mother went back from the balcony for her eight-year-old daughter and must have been overcome - but one D'Artagnan Alexander went in, found the little girl and brought her out.
RIP, Rachel Long.
Great interception, but he ran the wrong direction.
Another good kid from Kalamazoo Central H.S. Derek Jeter nods his approval.
The centerfielder always needs to call off the shortstop on a bloop Texas Leaguer.
Those guys play like they were football players. Or bowlers.
Original Mike said...
The other guy was already in position to catch him. Looks more like Blanks played defensive back, although the fact that he actually did catch the kid belies that hypothesis.
It worked. A college WR might consider he had a better shot.
Sure, he caught a baby, but don't let this distract you from the fact that in 1966, Al Bundy scored four touchdowns in a single game while playing for the Polk High School Panthers in the 1966 city championship game versus Andrew Johnson High School, including the game-winning touchdown in the final seconds against his old nemesis, "Spare Tire" Dixon.
(Sorry, the high school football reference requires this copypasta.)
Blogger BleachBit-and-Hammers said...
The Marines taught him to...blah blah blurp...A real hero.
Warms my heart.
100% opposite of a leftwing progressive rage-filled racist Antifa-fascist basement dwelling mommy's boy.
I thought you loved Bunker Bitch Bone Spurs?
The one black guy you like proves you people are not racist scum. I'm glad he could lift you up on his shoulders. It's been a rough week for Daddy Bounty-Bucks.
Other guy was standing in position, but my gut tells me he would've likely dropped the baby. Running and diving is probably more likely to secure the kid and prevent the direct momentum of gravity from impacting (And it helps if you have muscle memory of being a receiver.) When I played outfield in little league and later in adult softball, I found it easier to catch on the run or in motion than standing still waiting for a pop fly.
@Mike Sylwester, the mother perished. She is the latest in a long line of billions of mothers going back to Australopithecus who sacrificed her life for her child.
It wasn’t a baby. It was a three year old.
Probably weighed more than 30 pounds.
This reminds me of that old (pre-murder trial) joke about OJ Simpson catching a baby, then spiking after the crowd starts cheering him.
At least he didn't spike the ball.
Bobby Hill did the same thing in an episode of Hill Street Blues. And of course, JD LaRue did the 'spike' joke.
"Blanks said his time in the Marines, coupled with his athletic training as a wide receiver in high school and college, prepared him for this moment."
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Does this mean that it's OK for kids to play football again?
What a hero. You, Phillip Blanks, are the best of us.
This story has already been celebrated in song.
https://youtu.be/2zGh2fADPTo
Saving children from burning buildings reinforces white supremacy.
Howard: "I thought you loved Bunker Bitch Bone Spurs?"
Now do Basement B**** 5-deferment with "Asthma" Joe Biden.
Looks like the Whitmer Re-election Campaign team has taken a short break, providing LLR-lefty Chuck an opportunity to post at Althouse.
Howard is quite upset over the fact that a black guy saved a child's life instead of shooting the child....which makes Howard's Heroes look bad.
So bad in fact that Atlanta Mayor Bottoms called Howard's Heroes "cowards".
So, it looks like its Howard's Cowards from now on.
I mother is a mother. I can only guess.
Women and children first.
That's cheating.
Only Annie Oakley would be able to shoot the falling toddler. I am disappointed he didn't spike the kid after crossing the goal line.
Now I want to hear how the sibling was rescued. What a tragedy and what a triumph too.
Hero. Not clear why everything -- every single goldarn thing -- has to be about Trump or about race.
“It wasn’t a baby. It was a three year old.”
In Chicago when 10 year olds get shot in the street the cry is “ they are killing our babies”. I think Trayvon was called a murdered baby. The guy in Ferguson was just a gentle giant.
Howard - that you made this about race - that makes you the racist.
Racist.
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