French Spiderman has a New Job and a New Country

22-year old Mamoudou Gassama had the best weekend of his life in Paris. He saved the life of a 4-year old, met the President of the country, earned his citizenship and now has a job.

He left his home country of Malia and arrived in France a few months ago ‘dreaming of building his life’ in the country. Then Saturday night he was walking in the 18th district of the French capital when he heard people screaming and horns honking as a small child dangled from a 5th floor balcony above.  In a flash he jumped into action and climbed from balcony to balcony and reached the child in less than 30 seconds, while being captured on video and widely shared on social media. He has since been compared to the Marvel superhero Spiderman.
This morning he sat down for a face to face meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron said the migrant will be made a French citizen and will also be offered a place in the fire brigade.

This video from the Daily Mail shows the dramatic rescue.

Macron called Gassama a national hero,and gave him a medal for bravery. When asked about the incident by the President he replied “I was not thinking of anything. I went straight up”, Gassama, who wore jeans and a  short-sleeved patterned shirt, told Macron, recounting the episode. “Bravo,” Macron replied.

According to initial inquiries by the authorities, the child’s parents were not at home at the time. The father was later held for questioning by police for having left his child unattended to go out shopping and was due in court later, a judicial source said. The child’s mother was not in Paris at the time.