An African immigrant from Mali has been dubbed Spiderman for scaling four storeys to save a child dangling from a balcony. He has been invited to the Elysee Palace by President Macron.
Mamoudou Gassama, 22, was hailed a hero for single-handedly scaling the facade of an apartment block in the capital’s 18th arrondissement, and hauling the four-year-old to safety. The dramatic rescue, which saw Gassama clamber from balcony to balcony and reaching the child in less than 30 seconds, was captured on video and widely shared on social media. He has since been compared to the Marvel superhero Spiderman.
Gassama, who said he arrived in France a few months ago ‘dreaming of building his life’ in the country, has been invited to meet French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace today. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has vowed to help him settle in France. He told French broadcaster BFMTV when he saw the child dangling from the balcony, “I did not think, I saved him. When I took him in my arms, I spoke with him and asked: ‘Why did you do that?’ But he did not answer.”
The Parisian fire service said crews had arrived to find the boy had already been rescued. “Luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child,” a spokesman said. Local authorities quoted by French media said the boy’s parents were not at home at the time. The father has been questioned by police on suspicion of leaving his child unattended, judicial sources say. The mother was not in Paris at the time, it is believed. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo praised the 22-year-old’s heroism and said she had called him to thank him.She referred to him as the “Spiderman of the 18th”, referring to the Paris district where the rescue took place. “Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child,” Ms Hidalgo tweeted. “He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here. I replied that his heroic gesture was an example for all citizens and that the City of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France.”
Photo Credit: Getty
