‘SPIDERMAN’ WHO SAVED A PARIS CHILD BECAME A FRENCH CITIZEN

Mamoudou Gassama, a 22-year-old migrant from Mali who became known as “Spiderman” after climbing a Paris building to save a dangling child, was made a French citizen by government decree on September 12, 2018, ABC News reported. The decree, signed by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, kept a promise President Emmanuel Macron made days after Gassama hauled a four-year-old boy off a fourth-floor balcony.

The decree did not hold back on the praise. “His act of great bravery exemplifies the values which help unite our national community, such as courage, selflessness, altruism and taking care of the most vulnerable,” it said.

From a balcony to the Élysée Palace

The rescue happened in late May 2018. Gassama was watching a soccer match at a Paris restaurant when he heard people screaming and cars honking outside.

He walked toward the noise and saw a small boy hanging from a balcony. Gassama climbed the outside of the building, four floors in less than a minute according to ABC, and pulled the child to safety. Emergency services showed up after he had already done it.

“I did it because it was a child,” Gassama told Le Parisien. He also said: “I climbed … thank God I saved him.”

Video of the climb spread fast on social media and Gassama was widely hailed as a hero. The boy’s family thanked him and called him a “true hero,” ABC Australia reported.

Days later, Gassama was welcomed at the Élysée Palace. Macron called him a “hero,” Voice of America reported.

“Because this is an exceptional act…we are obviously, today, going to regularize all your papers,” Macron told him.

The president also invited him to apply for citizenship. “I have also invited him to apply for naturalization. Because France is a state of mind, and Mr Gassama has shown with determination that he has it!” Macron said, Deutsche Welle reported. Reuters reported that Macron also offered him a position within the emergency services.

Gassama also left with a medal and a certificate for bravery, CNN reported. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said the city would support him as he sought to settle in France, SBS reported, citing Reuters.

The Paris Fire Brigade posted its own welcome. “Mamoudou embodies values of Paris fire. We prepared to welcome him,” it tweeted. When the brigade’s chief asked about becoming a firefighter, Gassama replied: “I am going to do everything I can.”

ABC reported that Gassama had entered France illegally in September 2017. It also reported that he began a 10-month internship with the Paris fire brigade in July 2018, and a follow-up report from ABC News said the internship paid about 600 euros ($690) per month. CNN reported that he started with the brigade on July 1, 2018, as confirmed by his press representative, Djeneba Keita.

The rescue also had a legal aftermath for the boy’s father. On September 25, 2018, a Paris court gave him a three-month suspended sentence for neglecting parental responsibilities and ordered him to take a parenting course, BBC reported. Prosecutors said he had left the boy alone to go shopping and then delayed returning home to play Pokémon Go.

As for Gassama, Wikipedia said he could not continue with the fire brigade because he lacked France’s lower-secondary school certificate and had a medical condition that made him ineligible to serve as a firefighter. It said he later alternated between unemployment and precarious work.