Dying mum throws child from balcony in Phoenix fire

Phillip Blanks rushes the injured boy to safety. Photo / ABC7

WARNING: Distressing content

Heart-breaking video shows the moment a young boy was saved from an inferno that killed his mother after the dying woman threw the 3-year-old child from a balcony into the arms of a rescuer.

The woman's two children survived the blaze that broke out in a three-story apartment building in Phoenix, Arizona, at about 9am last Friday (US time).

As fire engulfed the property, neighbours rushed to help.

"When we kicked the door down that's when I seen flames come in. That's when I heard the screaming, so I just went into the apartment and grabbed the little girl, and I realised when I dragged her out, she was severely burned from top to bottom," Leonard Thompson told ABC7.

"The mother threw the second child over the balcony while she was burning and I saw her in flames, head to toe. She was burning but she didn't make it out," said neighbour Juanita Williams.

It was at that point that Phillip Blanks stepped in.

The former college gridiron player, who played at wide receiver, dived to catch the boy as he plummeted towards the ground.

"Instinct. There wasn't much thinking. I just reacted. I just did it," he told ABC7.

"I know how to catch," he said. "I've learned how to catch a football. So I'll give some credit to football."

The woman's two children were rescued from the fire. Photo / ABC7

Blanks said he arrived at the scene barefoot and just in time.

"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."

Blanks said the boy's mother was the real hero "because she made the ultimate sacrifice to save her children".

Phoenix Fire Department spokesman Captain Kenny Overton says the children were taken to a local burn centre. They are an 8-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy.

The woman was identified by police as 30-year-old Rachel Long.

She was found dead inside the burned-out apartment after the flames were extinguished.

Police said there were no signs of foul play.

-Additional reporting, AP