Real life 'spider-man' saves boy dangling from Paris balcony
Updated
Incredible footage has emerged of the moment a man scaled four storeys up a building in Paris to rescue a young boy dangling from a balcony.
The whole rescue was filmed and posted to social media, with people calling the 22-year-old rescuer a real spider-man.
Key points:
- According to the French news station La Chaîne Info, the child had been left alone while his father went shopping
- The 22-year-old is a Malian immigrant, who said he arrived a few months ago
- Mr Gassama has even been invited to the Elysee presidential palace to meet with President Emmanuel Macron
Mamoudou Gassama said he saw the child after onlookers were shouting, and leapt into action immediately.
"I did it because it was a child," the Le Parisien newspaper quoted him saying.
"I climbed … thank God I saved him."
Mr Gassama reached the boy within minutes, prompting a loud cheer from the crowd below.
According to the French news station La Chaîne Info, the child had been left alone while his father went shopping.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo praised the heroism of the Malian immigrant, saying the city would support his effort to settle in France.
"Congratulations to Mamoudou Gassama for his act of bravery that saved the life of a child," Ms Hidalgo said on her official Twitter account, adding that she spoke with him by phone to thank him.
Ms Hidalgo said Mr Gassama told her that he arrived from Mali a few months ago and wished to stay in France.
"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," Ms Hidalgo said.
French minister and former government spokesman Christophe Castaner also took to Twitter to say how admirable it was that Mr Gassama stepped forward to save a life without giving any thought for his own.
Mr Gassama has even been invited to the Elysee presidential palace to meet with President Emmanuel Macron on Monday morning, an official at Mr Macron's office said.
Reuters
Topics: offbeat, human-interest, france
First posted
