PHILLIP BLANKS played wide receiver at a college in Southern California, the United States.

But the greatest catch he ever made in his life came long after his playing career ended.

A heart-stopping video showed Blanks diving to catch a 3-year-old boy thrown off the balcony of an apartment fire in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 3.

“Instinct. There wasn’t much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it,” he told Eyewitness News in recalling the moment.

The 28-year-old said he was raised with the mindset of always looking to help others: He served in the U.S. Marines and now works in the security industry.

And of course his time as a wide receiver at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo in 2016-17 was a big help too.

“I know how to catch,” he says. “I’ve learned how to catch a football. So I’ll give some credit to football.”

That day, he said, he was home when he heard a lot of commotion outside his building. Thinking perhaps there was a fight or some other disturbance, he went to look.

Then he heard someone yell there was a fire. He grabbed some things and ran outside barefoot.

He immediately focused on the patio, saw what was about to happen and ran up just in time.

While the child was saved, his mother died in the fire. The 30-year-old woman’s last action was to fling her son to safety as she herself was already covered in flames.

(SD-Agencies)

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

(SD-Agencies)

Pet cat reunited with family in England 12 years after it escaped

It’s never too late for a reunion.

A woman in England was shocked when she was reunited with her missing pet cat after it was identified by its microchip. Amazingly, the cat had gone missing 12 years ago and hadn’t been seen since.

Vicky Swainson’s cat, Gucci, had gone missing when the then-19-year-old was in the middle of a move, South West News Service (SWNS) reports. According to her, Gucci was spotted running into a nearby building, but she wasn’t able to find him.

“We were hoping to get him used to the new place but while we were moving he just escaped from his room and disappeared,” the 31-year-old told SWNS. “We saw him jump into a nearby allotment and went to look for him but everywhere we searched we couldn’t find him. We tried calling for him, we tried shaking his favorite biscuits, we tried everything. I just wanted him to come back I couldn’t believe he’d disappeared. Even after we moved we walked two miles back to our old house for six months in the hope we’d stumble upon him. It was so heartbreaking - Gucci was part of the family.”

As the years passed, Swainson eventually realized that she’d likely never see the cat again. Then, seemingly out of the blue, she received a miraculous phone call.

“When I got the call I was in total shock, I couldn’t even process what was happening,” she explained. “Then when I realized it was my Gucci, I just felt overjoyed and overwhelmed. Gucci was alive and well, and I was going to see him. It was such a crazy and surreal phone call -- I was pinching myself. It really was a one in a million chance. I don’t think I’ll ever believe I have him back, even if I’m holding him.”

Swainson continued, “I went to get him on Friday afternoon and I knew it was him immediately. I’d like to think he recognized me as well because as soon as I picked him up he was cuddling me and purring. It was such a strange feeling -- something I never expected to go through. I didn’t think I’d ever hold him again, yet here I was, holding Gucci like when I was a teenager -- it was surreal.”