Migrant living illegally in France meets president after heroic act

ONLOOKERS watched in horror as a child dangled from a fifth-storey balcony. The toddler’s hero has now become the story.

MAMOUDOU Gassama did what nobody else would — or could — do, without giving it a second thought.

On Saturday night in a suburb north of Paris, the 22-year-old looked up to the fifth storey of an apartment complex where a small boy was dangling from a balcony.

The boy, who is believed to have been left at home alone, was rescued when Gassama scaled the outside of the building with his bare hands.

Another man leaning across from an adjacent balcony did his best to hold the boy with one arm before Gassama pulled him back to solid ground.

Footage of the rescue, which took place shortly before 8pm local time, went viral on Sunday and led many to label the hero “Paris Spiderman”.

Paris balcony hero Mamoudou Gassama will be offered permanent residency.

Mamoudou Gassama leaves the presidential Elysee Palace after his meeting with President Macron. Picture: Thibault Camus/AFP

It turns out his act of bravery could lead him to a brand new life.

On Monday, it was revealed that Gassama is originally from Mali in west Africa and was living in France illegally. France will now offer him citizenship and, apparently, a spot on the local fire brigade.

A whirlwind 24 hours for Gassama included a phone call from Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who praised him for his “act of bravery” and “thanked him warmly”.

“He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life here,” she said.

“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.”

Things only got better when he met with French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited him to the Elysee Palace on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) speaks with Mamoudou Gassama, 22/ Picture: Thibault Camus/AFP

SBS reports President Macron will make Gassama a French citizen and will ensure he is offered a place within the fire brigade.

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 later held for questioning by police for having left his child unattended and was due in court later, a judicial source said. The child’s mother was not in Paris at the time.

The French media reported that the father of the small child was detained for alleged parental neglect.

— with AFP