USC football player injured after jumping from balcony to save nephew from drowning

Most football coaches hate when players suffer injuries off the field. But it’s hard to fault Josh Shaw, a senior cornerback at the University of Southern California, for the injuries he suffered saving his nephew from drowning.

Shaw was at a family event, standing on a second-floor balcony, when he saw his 7-year-old nephew fall into the pool. The boy can’t swim, so Shaw leaped from the second floor balcony down to the concrete below.

The fall sprained both of Shaw’s ankles, but he was able to crawl into the pool, swim his nephew to the ladder, then climb up. The boy was shaken up but OK. Shaw was taken to a hospital and diagnosed with two high ankle sprains. There is no timetable for his return.