A Malian man has been hailed as a national hero after he successfully climbed the 4th building of a 7-storey to rescue a baby.
Mamoudou Gassama, 22, from Mali, displays certificate of courage and dedication. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool)
A Malian migrant who rescued a four-year-old child hanging from a balcony has been made an honorary French citizen. Mamoudou Gassama, who had been living illegally in France, was dubbed a “real-life Spider-Man” after quickly scaling a building in Paris’ northern 18th district on Saturday.
President Macron invited Mr Gassama to the Elysee Palace on Monday to thank him personally and honour him French citizenship. ‘Thank God, I saved the child’ Footage on social media shows the 22-year-old climb up the block of flats and has gone viral – with one post having been watched over seven million times. “I saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns. I climbed up like that and, thank God, I saved the child,” Mr Gassama told reporters after the event.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo congratulated the young man in a tweet and said she had called him to thank him for his actions.
“Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child,” Ms Hidalgo said.
“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,” she added.
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