France’s ‘Spiderman’ joins fire brigade as citizenship awaits

• CLARE BYRNEMamoudou Gassama, the 22-year-old Malian ‘Spiderman’ feted for saving a child hanging from a balcony, took his first step toward French citizenship on Tuesday and joined the fire brigade as accolades continued to pour in over his daring rescue.

Video footage of Gassama scaling four storeys of the building with his bare hands has catapulted the young man to global fame, and earned him the promise of citizenship from president Emmanuel Macron.

Hailing the bravery of the youth who had been living in France illegally, the head of the local authority, Pierre-Andre Durand said: “How can anyone fail to be impressed by what he did, not admire it?

“He helped someone in danger, which is not such a common thing in our society.”

Gassama became an overnight sensation after the video of him plucking a four-year-old boy to safety Saturday went viral.

On Monday he was honoured by president Macron with a medal for bravery, the promise of citizenship and the offer of a job.

Gassama arrived in France via Italy and the perilous Mediterranean migrant route.

The family of the young boy thanked him on Tuesday for his quick thinking.

The boy’s paternal grandmother told RMC radio Tuesday that she was “very moved” by the images of the rescue and sent “huge thanks” to Gassama.

“He’s really a hero,” she said. The boy’s mother learned the news of the rescue on Reunion Island – the French Indian Ocean territory where she and the father were born and where she still lives.

The boy’s father has been living alone with him in Paris.

– Nampa-AFP

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