Malian immigrant Mamoudou Gassama is being hailed as a hero after he climbed four storeys in a matter of seconds to save a child who was hanging from a ledge.
The video of him climbing quickly to reach the child, cheered on by terrified onlookers, went viral on social media, with people calling the 22-year-old a real spider man. Multiple videos shows Gassama climbing the four floors without any equipment or assistance to save the child. It wasn’t immediately clear how the child ended up on the ledge.
Here’s another video of the incident:
This man did not hesitate a second, risked his life and saved the kid! #truehero #spiderman #paris 👏 pic.twitter.com/u1fvid3i1j
— Fred (@FredBC77) May 27, 2018
Le Parisien newspaper reported that Gassama was walking by when he saw a gathering in front of the building and leapt into action.
“I did it because it was a child,” the paper quoted him saying. “I climbed… Thank God I saved him.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo praised his heroism, saying the city will support his effort to settle in France.
“Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child,” Hidalgo said on her official Twitter account, adding that she spoke with him by phone to thank him.
Hidalgo said Gassama told her that he arrived from Mali a few months ago and wished to stay in France.
Gassama has even been invited to the Elysee presidential palace to meet with President Emmanuel Macron on Monday morning, an official at Macron’s office said.
“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,” Hidalgo said.
French minister and former government spokesman Christophe Castaner also took to Twitter to say how admirable it was that Gassama stepped forward to save a life without giving any thought for his own.