PARIS, France (CNN/BFM) – A young Malian migrant is being praised in France after scaling up four floors to rescue a young child dangling from a balcony.
In a video, you can see Mamoudou Gassama scaling four floors, pulling himself up from balcony to balcony, until he makes it to the 4-year-old and pulls him to safety from midair.
CNN affiliate BFM TV reports that French President Emmanuel Macron has invited him to the Elysée Palace on Monday to thank him personally.
Gassama explained his feat: “We came here to watch the football match at a restaurant. I saw a lot a people yelling, cars were honking. I got out, I saw the child who was about to fall from the
balcony. I like children. I would have hated to see him getting hurt in front of me. I ran and I thought of ways to save him. Thank God I scaled the front of the building to that balcony.”
A BFM Reporter asked, “How did you climb? It seems easy.” Gassama replied, “I got on the top of a door and I managed to pull myself from balcony to balcony. And thank God, I saved him.” ”
Now the Paris mayor and Annie Hidalgo wrote on Twitter that she spoke with the 22-year-old and that, “He explained to me that he had arrived from Mali a few months ago dreaming of building his life
here in France. 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.”
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