Scaling walls, saving children. That’s usually the stuff Marvel movies are made up. But on Saturday night, Paris got to see its very own Spiderman. A Mali immigrant came to the rescue by saving a small child who was dangling from a balcony. Now, he is to become a naturalized French citizen thanks to his heroic act.
On Saturday night, Mali immigrant, 22 year-old Mamoudou Gassama, was walking down a street in the 18th district of Paris. He and his friends were on their way to watch a soccer game at a local restaurant. As they walked, they saw a crowd gathered below one building, where the child was dangling precariously from the fourth story balcony.
In an interview with reporters, Gassama explained what happened, “I like children so I will hate to see him get hurt in front of me. I ran and I thought of ways to save him, and thank God I scaled the front of the building to that balcony. I got on top of the door and managed to pull myself up from balcony to balcony and thank God I saved him.”
The four year old was crying and had also injured his foot, but thanks to Gassama’s heroism, the child was brought to safety.
Following the incident, Gassama met with President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace on Monday. Macron personally thanked Gassama, giving him a medal of courage and also promised to grant him French citizenship.
