Real-Life Spider-Man Scrambles Up Building To Save A Dangling Child
He’s being hailed as a real-life Spider-Man.
Mamoudou Gassama was caught on video Saturday climbing a building in Paris to rescue a child who was dangling from a fourth-floor balcony. As the footage above shows, it took Gassama about half a minute to reach the 4-year-old and pull him to safety.
“I did not think of the floors... I did not think of the risk,” Gassama told Le Parisien, according to a translation by Nine.com.au. “I did it because it’s a child.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called the 22-year-old hero “Spider-Man of the 18th,” as the rescue happened in the city’s 18th arrondissement (district).
“He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago, dreaming of building his life here,” Hidalgo told The Guardian. “I told him that his heroic act is an example to all citizens and that the city of Paris will obviously be very keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France.”
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron met with Gassama, thanked him, gave him a medal and said he would become a naturalized citizen, per the BBC.
The child was under the care of his father while his mother was living outside of Paris, CNN reports. The father was not home at the time of the incident. French prosecutor Francois Molins told CNN affiliate BFM TV that the father had left to go shopping and was also playing “Pokemon Go” while he was out.
The father now faces up to two years in prison, according to CNN.
This story has been updated with additional information about the boy’s father.
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