Some people freeze in bad situations, and some act quickly to resolve them.
That’s what happened to Mamoudou Gassam. He was an illegal immigrant in France who saw a child hanging over a balcony and climbed up to save him.
He also changed his own life in the process.
Gassam said of the incident:
“I didn’t think about it, I climbed up and God helped me. I like children, I would have hated to see him getting hurt in front of me. I ran and I looked for solutions to save him, and thank God I scaled the front of the building to the balcony.”
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo learned of the heroic rescue and called him to show her appreciation. She said:
“He explained to me that he arrived from Mali a few months ago with the dream of making a life for himself here. I replied that his heroic act is an example for all citizens and that the city of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France.”
As a result of his bravery and quick thinking, he was granted citizenship in France.
Hidalgo also said that the people of Paris will do everything possible to make sure he gets settled into his new life there. They plan to help him find work, too.
He also met with President Emmanuel Macron, who was just as impressed with his rescue and who authorized the approval of his citizenship to the country. Macron said that he would like to see the young man continue to rescue people as a member of the Paris Fire Brigade. He said:
“Mamoudou shares the values of the Paris Fire Brigade. We are ready to welcome him. This is an exceptional act. We’ll obviously be setting all your papers straight, and if you wish it, we will start the process naturalization so that you can become French. What you have done corresponds with what firefighters do; if this fits your wishes, you could join the firefighters’ corps so that you can do (such acts) on a daily basis.”
Gassam seems to be a little shy of all the attention he is getting, and he definitely didn’t save the child for attention or because he was hoping to get anything in return.
In fact, that’s what makes it so impressive.
It was a selfless act by a young man who simply wanted to help another person in need. Had he not been there, the child would have likely fallen and gotten seriously injured. He might have even saved the child’s life.
The heroic efforts of the young man were caught on video.
In the video, a toddler can be seen holding onto the edge of a balcony, where he had apparently fallen. The balcony was four stories up, and he could have slipped and fallen at any second.
Gassam jumped into action and started climbing up the other balconies to get to the child. Two other people were on the same floor and came over to help. Gassam pulled himself up to the floor quickly and pulled the child up and over the rails to safety.
Spectators looked on in amazement.
What they thought was going to be a tragedy turned out to be an amazing rescue. Gassam had saved the child, and he had done it by putting himself at risk. He wasn’t at all worried about his own chances of falling; he just wanted to save the child.
Gassam said admitted that when he was climbing up to rescue the child, he didn’t even stop to think about the risks or how high he was going.
It was only after the toddler was safe that he realized what he had done. He doesn’t consider himself a hero, though; he was just doing the right thing. Doing the right thing helped him secure his future in France and will hopefully help him live a better life.
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