A man now being dubbed the “Spider-Man of Paris” is going to receive French citizenship after heroically rescuing a child dangling from a balcony.
The man, Mamoudou Gassama, was a 22-year old immigrant from Mali. He came to Paris from Mali, a landlocked country in West Africa, only a few months ago. He hoped to make a new life for himself in France.
On Saturday, he proved himself a hero by leaping up the face of an apartment building to grab a child who was dangling from a railing. Footage of the event went viral almost immediately, and it is remarkable. In the video, Gassama moves with almost unbelievable grace and speed. He climbs from ledge to ledge like a superhero out of a comic book.
Not once does he slow down or look back, and in a matter of seconds he goes from the first floor balcony to the fourth floor, where the child is dangling from the edge. In one smooth motion he grabs the child and deposits him safely on the other side of the balcony.
When interviewed by the French media, the Malian immigrant (speaking in perfect French, as most West Africans can) said that “I like children, I would hate to see him get hurt. I ran and I looked for solutions to save him, and thank God I scaled the building to that balcony.”
In recognition of his bravery (a rarity in France, as you’re surely aware), French president Emmanuel Macron invited him to the Elysee Palace. There, young Mamoudou was given a gold medal, and an assurance that he would soon be granted French citizenship.
When asked by Macron why he had gone into action to save the child, Gassama answered: “I didn’t think about it, I climbed up and God helped me.” That’s about as close to the definition of heroism as it gets, folks.
In addition to having his immigration applications fast-tracked, Mamoudou Gassama was offered a job with the Paris Fire Brigade. He’s definitely an example of the kind of people that France ought to be bringing in.
Somebody willing to put his own life at risk to save someone else’s child is somebody any country would be blessed to have. The French would be much better off if, instead of allowing in so many radical Salafist clerics who want to kill French children, they brought in more earnest Malian immigrants who want to save French children. (You may remember the way another Malian-born Frenchman, Lassana Bathily, intervened to save six people – one a baby – from a group of terrorists attacking a Jewish supermarket in Paris, three years ago.)
Because, as the people who gathered to watch Mamoudou Gassama’s heroic stunt can tell you, the French themselves weren’t moving particularly quickly to save the child. Firefighters arrived to find the dangling boy had already been rescued, any by someone without the benefit of a ladder truck to boot.
