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A MALIAN MIGRANT who saved a four-year-old child hanging from a fourth-floor Paris balcony after scaling the building with his bare hands was honoured by French President Emmanuel Macron today and offered citizenship.
Two days after his daring Spiderman-style rescue – viewed millions of times online – Mamoudou Gassama was received by Macron at the presidential palace.
“All the (Gassama’s) documents will be put in order,” Macron told the sporty 22-year-old who has become a national hero, referring to his immigration status.
In the meeting, live footage of which was carried on the president’s Facebook page, Macron gave Gassama a medal for bravery and also proposed that Gassama join the French fire service.
“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.
“I’m pleased because it’s the first time I’ve received a trophy like that,” Gassama, who arrived in France in September 2017, said after receiving his medal.
Gassama leaped into action Saturday evening on seeing a child dangling in mid-air from a balcony half-way up an apartment block in the multi-ethnic 18th district of the French capital.
The video shows him pulling himself up from balcony to balcony as a man on the fourth floor tries to hold on to the child by leaning across from a neighbouring balcony.
On reaching the fourth floor Gassama, who lives in a hostel for immigrants, throws one leg over the balcony before reaching out with his right arm and grabbing the child.
BFM Paris / TwitterEnfant sauvé à Paris: "J'ai réussi à attraper le balcon, et Dieu merci, je l'ai sauvé ", témoigne le héros pic.twitter.com/dI9ALB5JWc
— BFM Paris Île-de-France (@BFMParis) May 27, 2018
Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the child had already been rescued, with a spokesman saying that “luckily, there was someone who was physically fit and who had the courage to go and get the child.”
Praising Gassama, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux tweeted: “This incredibly brave act, which is true to the values of solidarity of our Republic, must open the doors of our national community to him.”
His story instantly drew comparisons with that of another Malian migrant who was feted as a hero, and given citizenship, for helping save lives during a January 2015 terror attack.
Lassana Bathily helped hide hostages in the freezer during an Islamist jihadi attack on a Jewish supermarket, in which four people were killed.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo also lauded Gassama, who arrived in France in September 2017, for his “act of bravery” as well as phoning him personally to “thank him warmly”.
“He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here.
“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,” she added.
Tracked down by reporters 24 hours after the heroic rescue, Gassama said he had acted without thinking.
“I saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns. I climbed up like that and, thank God, I saved the child,” he said.
“I felt afraid when I saved the child… (when) we went into the living room, I started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down,” he added.
According to initial inquiries by the authorities, the child’s parents were not at home at the time.
The father was held for questioning by police for having left his child unattended.
The child’s mother was not in Paris at the time.
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What an epic display of courage and moral certainty. He is an example to us all.
@gowfc@yahoo.com W: He’s no Simon Harris!
@gowfc@yahoo.com W: totally agree.He actually did something unlike the majority of rubbernecker s who honked car horns and recorded video footage to post on to their mates instead of helping.
@gowfc@yahoo.com W:
An epic display of strength and fitness.
@Paul Dunne: he should take up rock climbing.. he flew up that.. good man.
@Cassie Lyons: Maybe a priest would have said a mass to make you happy.
@SFLounyTouny: Or become a cat burglar!
Credit where credit is due…. Yer man on the next door balcony did a stirling job at looking on.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: yeah like surely he could have reached over and grabbed him easily enough!
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: The article states that the man on the next balcony held onto the child.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: Ya what was he doing? It’s looks like he was in easy reach of the child, or is he missing his right arm. Heroic stuff by the rescuer, but I’d keep my balcony door locked.
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: maybe he wasn’t in a position to change his grip or body posture for fear of dropping the kid. He looked stretched around the balcony divider. Well done to all, except the parents of course.
@Greg Blake: the guy in the other balcony is an idiot. End of. Are you for real?
@Joe Mc mahon:
The only idiots here are the people criticising.
Why oh why do people have to find something negative to say about this fantastic story???????
@⚡ Seánie ⚡: he didn’t appear until yer man was half way up the building and you can see he started edging the kid one towards him but Spider-Man just finished the job.
Fair play to this man saving a child’s life. imagine that, saving a child’s life……….People like this are very scarce these days…….
@Rambon: they’re not really, it’s just that bad news gets more ratings
@Kian: No No, they are.
@Rambon: True and the child wasn’t even his. Yet risked his life.
Some bit of faith in humanity restored.
@Rambon: what about blood donor’s. Think of the quantity of blood give to children with cancer alone and how many people helped save them. Perhaps not as dramatic but shouldn’t be forgotten.
@Rambon: Are you trying to take a dig at all thisenwgo votes YES on Friday?
They could reward him by making sure he has a job with a proper wage and working conditions
@Dave O’Hanlon: that’s not how this works.
@Dave O’Hanlon: He’d climb to the top of whatever job given to him.
@Dave O’Hanlon: They’ve started with making him a French citizen this morning.
@Dave O’Hanlon: They made him a French Citizen and a Fireman !!
Absolute legend
@Graham: I need to get in shape. Wow.
Another video I saw of the incident, showed 5 or 6 other young men trying to scale the building but they couldn’t clear the ground floor which had a higher ceiling. This was some achievement in terms of athletic ability plus nerves of steel.
For all the haters calling out the man in the balcony next door who didn’t climb across. I suffer from a fear of heights and I know I wouldn’t have been able to climb across myself. He held on to the child’s arm and on the day that was enough, thankfully.
@The Girl: u and me both
@BlueSkyThinking: Your comment paints a dramatic picture. That chap is awesome, he needs to teach his skills.
And all that distraction going on below on the street, must have added to the child’s terror. The guy on the next door balcony was blocked by a divider, he was probably scared that he would drop the child if he leaned over any further, at least the child was not alone at that point, what the young Mallian did was beyond heroic, give him a job and offer him serious sport training, he’s Olympic ..
@helen walsh: blocked by a divide????? The guy on the ground was blocked by four floors but still managed it. The guy in the other balcony needs a slap. We’ve all been in apartments like that on holiday or wherever and yes, you can get around if you really want to. Complete moron.
@Joe Mc mahon: d
@Joe Mc mahon: did you read the article or just o straight to comments the guy on the balcony held on to the child. Now I’ll say it one more time the guy on the balcony held on to the child.
@Joe Mc mahon: shut up moron
@Joe Mc mahon: Blocked by a divide in that he could not cross the divide without letting go of the child. you moron.
@Joe Mc mahon: More than likely he was afraid to let go of the child. The only person who deserves a slap as you put it should be the one who left the child alone in the first place.
@Joe Mc mahon: you need a slap
@Joe Mc mahon: The guy on the ground was brave and very athletic, he was the right person in the right place at the right time. How about you blame the idiot father who left a child alone near an open window? I dont think its fair to persecute someone who may have been terrified. he held the childs arm, leave him alone.
@Tom Tony Byrne: you’d be around one of those divides so fu ck ing quick if a child was dangling like that. He actually waited for the child to move a bit closer to him before he “held onto the child”. Real heroes here are the dude who climbed up the building for exactly that.. and the child for being strong enough to hold on and move closer to the dumbass…
@Coll S: agree about the parent. But watch the video again. He stands there calling the child over for a second or two before the child actually does move closer. Then he grabs the child. By the time Spider-Man arrives the child is moving closer to the divide. That’s all I’m saying. It’s there for all to see.
@Joe Mc mahon: Stop being a contrary nagging eejit, you would have been one of the rubber neckers and not done anything, so stop criticizing someone who was ten times braver than you
@Larissa Caroline Nikolaus: never criticized the hero love, the knob jockey in next door.. yeah! The guy who climbed the building is a legend.. didn’t even think of the danger he was in until it was over. Dipsh it next door, ooohh I can’t climb that it’s too high, hey kid come a bit closer. Gimme a break.
Amazing job well done
Hero
Absolutely amazing. What an awesome act of heroics
Real life Super-Hero
Legend
@Simon McGrath: Ledge-end
That is some show of strength, physical and mental. Genuine hero.
Wow!!! I’m in awe of the physical strength of that man! Hope he’s well looked after by the french for his amazing bravery!!
@Del Bear: Macron made him a French citizen this morning. That’s a start anyway.
@Ciara Baines: It’s well deserved indeed
Funny how he’s a hero for saving a baby but in France it’s illegal to persuade a woman not to kill her unborn baby. What a sick country and we’re the exact same now
@Steve1234: it’s over Steve, take a break.
@Steve1234: Andorra, Chile, Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Vatican, Madagascar, Malta, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Palau, Philippines, San Marino, Senegal, and Suriname…. there you go Steve. Pick your one country and go live there. They’re the only ones left with an abortion ban
@The Guru: Can’t give up when there’s thousands of unborn babies about to die due to people like you acting as judge and jury on them
@Michael Powell: Most will have it legalised due to extreme brainwashing in universities and from media.
@Steve1234: We all knew what we were voting for. Safe health care for women in pregnancy, get some help for your obsession with women’s safe health care
@happinessnow: No obsession for safe health care for women. Do have an objection for butchering unborn babies as do most non-brainwashed non-evil people
@Steve1234: about to die? nothing has changed!!! are you awake? Abortions have been happening and now, if anything, less women will be having them due to the support at home. Get a grip!
@Keith Fay: Well that’s funny didn’t pro killing babies before they’re born campaigners like Ruth Coppinger not regularly point out that poor women were unable to have abortions. So if that’s true more of these will have abortions. Also I don’t see the government proposing anything to reduce the number of abortions
@Steve1234: you are the one that is brainwashed and be good for you to keep your nose out of women’s health care needs
@Steve1234: statistically every country, I’ll say that again – every country – that introduces abortion see the amount of women having them reduce. Shame you didn’t know that before hand you could have been on the right side of history.
@Keith Fay: Ha right side of history I’m sure people thought the same about Magdalene laundries and all that. This is our generations equivalent (and many times worse) and people you will have it permanently on record that you support killing babies. As for abortion rates every country sees them increase unless you’re referring to lies by campaigners that they were a lot higher before legislation ie in France they said there was more illegal abortions than births (can’t remember exact number) and when it was legalised it turned out to be a lot fewer. Same in every country look it up
@happinessnow: Strange that….my voting card had a completely different question on it.
@Steve1234: you are so wrong, you are a relic. shouldn’t you be at mass?
@Steve1234: you are exaggerating. Most French families have the third child
@helen walsh: The birth rate is again propped up by immigration from Africa and Middle East which has led to terrorist attacks. Most indigenous Frnech families don’t
@Keith Fay: Not wrong at all look it up. And mass is on Sunday’s, if u don’t know that the Sabbath Is Sunday I’m really starting to worry about the state of catholic schools in this country
@Steve1234: and so you should be. Have a good look at them while they still exist as they are next to be consigned to the archives of Irish history. Pro-choice cannot be stopped now and your vile cult has had its day.
@Steve1234: that’s rich calling some brainwashed and in the next comment mentioning the Catholic Church :)
Pot meet kettle
@Steve1234: don’t worry that’s next on the list, get the church out of our schools.
@Steve1234: I don’t go to mass, I thought they were on in the mornings too, you’ve just shown your true colours though. SEPARATE CHURCH AND STATE!
@neilo: How many killed since The 2015 Parus attacks. And I don’t believe in killing people because of my beliefs which you clearly do (And I may add at many multiples killed by Jihadi’s and right wing reactionary types)
@pkunzip doom2.zip: Well it’s true. Anyone who saw photos of post abortion babies and voted for it is clearly brainwashed
@Steve1234: It’s crazy comments like this that actually handed the referendum to the Yes side. Cheers!
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: No brainwashing from the media and the universities and anti-Catholic bile is the main reason.
@Steve1234: not you again… are you Gkell1 in disguise? You guys remind me of each other and for all the wrong reasons. Please join reality. The yes won and it won by a landslide.
@Steve1234: dGive it a rest Steve, if you dont like democracy in action move to Russia or somewhere similar!
@Banbha: Unfortunately living in reality. But at least in the future when abortion is viewed as the abomination it is I can proudly say I didn’t vote for it while you will have it on your conscience. And no I’m not gkell1
@Steve1234: OK, you have said it, and said it, and said it, and said it, and said it, and then said it some more. I think we all know how you feel now but the fact is the vast majority of Irish people feel differently and demonstrated that in a landslide of Yes’s. Your repeating yourself over and over and trolling people here achieves nothing, other than showing that you are bitter and have far too much free time. And I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. Genuinely, please accept reality and move on with your life. All this bitching and moaning is only making you sound like a fanatic, it totally discredits you and it’s not convincing anyone of anything. It’s lovely out… go for a walk, get a coffee or something. Honestly, enough already.
@neilo: Name 7 terrorist attacks committed by indigenous Europeans in the last 3 years. You clearly with killing unborn babies while dehumanising them as killers always do to their victims. Don’t believe in controlling women but women should accept if you have sex even with contraception there’s a chance you could get pregnant
@Steve1234: Enjoy heaven then mate when you get there…what a sad individual you are..
@Steve1234:
“Funny how he’s a hero for saving a baby but in France it’s illegal to persuade a woman not to kill her unborn baby.”
Persuade or Force?
Pretty sure you wont go to jail there for walking a women out of an abortion.
@Gavin Conran: *talking
@Steve1234:
“Don’t believe in controlling women but women should accept if you have sex even with contraception there’s a chance you could get pregnant”
And perhaps people such as yourself should accept that its just none of your business what a women does in these cases.
The people have spoken and chosen to move away from the days women were denied basic human rights and continue as a forward thinking society rather than one stuck in the past.
As many have said – getting the church out of schools should be next.
No child should be subjected to religious dogma. Let the church wait until they turn 18 to make their case to them at which time they are old enough to evaluate the information properly and make up their own mind.
@Steve1234: since you brought up brainwashing, are you Catholic? Incredible brainwashing there to believe in a cloud fairy and book written by Arabs 2000yrs ago. I think u will find you are brainwashed
@Michael Powell: I think the Arabs lived in Arabia back then.
@Clever Jake: Where did I say every single Muslim was a terrorist?
@Steve1234: take a few weeks off steve.
@Steve1234: where is Parus?
@Steve1234: ends with ‘off’.
@pauline: Don’t mind Steve, he’s just a sad little rhymes with banker
@happinessnow: wow, I certainly didn’t know that murder of innocent babies is women healthcare need now. Are you ok? Your head didn’t seem to work ok.
Top man! A good news story for a change.
Noble Peace price
All hail the man who risks his life to save the life of a strangers baby. All hail the woman who takes the life of her own child to prevent risk to her own.
Strange days indeed….
@Ryan Donal: do f u c k off Ryan.
@Joe Mc mahon: Don’t call Simon Harris
Typical foreigners, coming to Europe and heroically rescuing our children from certain death.
Well deserved!!
A better headline would have been “Alien Spiderman saved my baby and turned into a French person.”
Amazing
Where was the child’s parents?
Why isn’t the man in the other balcony pulling the child up? Very strange video
@A Curious Mind: The man in the other balcony only arrives out as the other man is climbing up. He reaches out to the child who starts to move over to him. He only gets a proper hold of the child as the climber gets to the top and starts to pull him over which he aids him in doing.
@Darren Byrne: finally, someone who actually sees what happened in the video.
Bloody legend.
Just after watching the video I thought the guy on the other side looked asleep he could have easily reached across the balcony and grabbed the little child am I correct? does anyone agree?
@Scottyal:
No.
Probably the most staged, farcical event ever show on TV
@Damien Mooney: that’s right they staged the 4 year old hanging out of the multi storey building and being saved by 2 strangers……………… Go home for your tinfoil hat.
@Tom Mc Donald: you think a 4 year old would have the grip strength to hang on like that seriously
Some in this country should take this man as example and save the children instead of condemning them to death!
Some balls on him in fairness deserves everything he gets
Well done to that man. I have watched it a few times and unless the other guy on the balcony had just pulled himself out of a wheelchair to get to where he was, the real hero should have punched him in the face. Go around the divide you complete moron and save the child. Jesus h Christ. I give up… super climbing skills though..
Indeed a hero,and well deserving of any award
I bet he voted no
Trump of course would never acknowledge this
How gullible is French Prime Minister?
Even his old age pensioner wife would see through this con job!!
This looks like a setup, a complete con job.
How gullible is french President??
Even his old age pensioner wife would have spotted this set-up.
what the hell was the parents doing
This looks like a setup a complete con job.
4 year old holding on to Balcony wall looks very suspect and why didn’t guy in white shirt lift kid to safety???
Cameras conveniently recording everything!
Staged. Reckless endangerment. Tut tut.
This looks like a setup, a complete con job.
A 4 year old holding on to Balcony wall looks very suspect and why didn’t guy in white shirt lift kid to safety???
Cameras conveniently recording everything!
This looks like a setup a complete con job.
4 year old holding on to Balcony wall looks very suspect and why didn’t guy in white shirt lift kid to safety???
Cameras conveniently recording everything!
have your say