# Man From Mali Saved A 4 Year Old By Climbing Balconies In Paris



## FlowerHair (May 28, 2018)

Now he gets a French citizenship and a medal from President Macron.

The child was hanging from a fourth floor balcony and a neighbor tried to hold on to the child, when Gassama saw the child and decided to climb up there. In less than one minute, he had climbed four floors up and rescued the child.


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## FlowerHair (May 28, 2018)

An article from NY Times:
*‘Spiderman,’ a Migrant in Paris, Scales Building to Save a Child*
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President Emmanuel Macron of France meeting with Mamadou Gassama at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Monday. Mr. Gassama scaled four stories of a building in the French capital to save a young child hanging from a balcony.CreditPool photo by Thibault Camus


By Alan Cowell and Aurelien Breeden


May 28, 2018
The child seemed to be suspended from a balcony. An adult standing nearby seemed powerless to help. Disaster seemed the only possible outcome.


Then, to the nimble rescue on the streets of Paris on Saturday evening, came a young man whom some French people have started to call the Spiderman of the 18th, referring to the area of Paris where the episode unfolded.

With a combination of grit, agility and muscle, the man hauled himself hand over hand from one balcony to another, springing from one parapet to grasp the next one up. A crowd that had gathered before he began his daring exploit urged him ever upward, according to onlookers’ video that was shared widely on social media.

Finally, the man reached the child and pulled him to safety. And suddenly, an act of individual courage and resourcefulness began to play into Europe’s fraught and polarized debate about outsiders, immigrants and refugees.
The man, identified as Mamadou Gassama, is a migrant from Mali, a troubled former French colony in northwest Africa. Mr. Gassama had yearned to secure the requisite documentation to live legally in France, and his dream came true on Monday after a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron.

“I told him that in gratitude for this heroic act he would be given legal status as soon as possible,” Mr. Macron said in a statement on Facebook after meeting with Mr. Gassama at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

Mr. Macron added that the Paris firefighters were “ready to welcome” Mr. Gassama into their ranks, and he said that he had “invited” Mr. Gassama to apply for French citizenship.

Mr. Gassama will be one of a lucky few. In 2017, only five people were granted residency papers for “exceptional talent” or “services rendered to the community,” according to statistics from France’s Interior Ministry. In 2016, there were six.

The meeting with Mr. Macron came after the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also called to thank him for his “act of bravery.”

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

Even the anti-immigrant National Front party offered to support Mr. Gassama’s bid for residency — but only in return for the expulsion of all the other migrants living in France without official consent.

As for Mr. Gassama, he told French reporters that his act of courage had left him shaken. “I saw all these people shouting, and cars sounding their horns,” he said. “I climbed up like that and, thank God, I saved the child.”

“I felt afraid when I saved the child,” he said, according to French news reports. “I started to shake, I could hardly stand up. I had to sit down.”


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## RossBoss (May 28, 2018)

Guess he's not afraid of heights. 

I now foresee people staging false rescues in hopes of getting dem papers


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## Chicoro (May 28, 2018)

YES.​


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## Ganjababy (May 28, 2018)

RossBoss said:


> Guess he's not afraid of heights.
> 
> I now foresee people staging false rescues in hopes of getting dem papers


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## Atthatday (May 28, 2018)

And a BLACK man saves the day, an excellent climber! He was fast and worked it.

Did anyone notice the person, at the bottom of the video, who unsuccessfully tried to climb the fence?


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## TCatt86 (May 28, 2018)

Amazing. Thank God this man was there to save that child. Where the hell was the kid parents???


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## greight (May 28, 2018)

I do not like the racist French but I’m happy for the black man that he gets his dream while also saving a child’s life.

Bravo!


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## nysister (May 28, 2018)

Awesome! Parkour has nothing on him. I'm happy for his new citizenship. That was the way for the government to handle it, here he would have been arrested at best.

We are honest-to-goodness real life superheroes. No wonder we're hated. 

Our skin and eyes that protect us, our muscles, our ability to know just what to do when, and despite anything that tears us down, we never give up.

I'd be scared if I were them too.


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## Pat Mahurr (May 28, 2018)

He is an exceptional person indeed.  Good that he was rewarded with something he valued.   Split-second, impulsive heroes fascinate me.  I’d like to know more about him.
Re the bolded, I had to go back and look. 


Atthatday said:


> And a BLACK man saves the day, an excellent climber! He was fast and worked it.
> 
> *Did anyone notice the person, at the bottom of the video, who unsuccessfully tried to climb the fence?*


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## Pat Mahurr (May 28, 2018)

Maybe they can send the father to Mali — just to keep the numbers even.   

“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.“

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paris-...hero-mamoudou-gassama-mali-migrant-spiderman/






TCatt86 said:


> Amazing. Thank God this man was there to save that child. *Where the hell was the kid parents???*


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## frizzy (May 28, 2018)

Left home alone??  Sending the dad to Mali is much too good for him!!!


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## lesedi (May 28, 2018)

Pat Mahurr said:


> Maybe they can send the father to Mali — just to keep the numbers even.


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## lesedi (May 28, 2018)

Wait, who leaves a 4 year od alone?? I go into the bathroom for 5 minutes and my 3 year old is diving off couches and tables and conducting 'experiments'. How could they leave a 4 year old alone???


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## brg240 (May 28, 2018)

This made me tear up. I'm so glad that he was able to save him.

Also is disgusting they've only granted citizenship to 5 people.

Ruin a country and then leave them to pick up the peices


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## WhoIAm (May 28, 2018)

It was kinda funny how Gassama snatched the child over the balcony like a black mama.

I'm impressed by his upper body strength.


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## rabs77 (May 28, 2018)

He was amazing!


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## DST1913 (May 28, 2018)

I'm confused. From the video it looks like someone else was on the balcony. Am I seeing things? If so why didn't they pull the kid up?


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## CarefreeinChicago (May 28, 2018)

DST1913 said:


> I'm confused. From the video it looks like someone else was on the balcony. Am I seeing things? If so why didn't they pull the kid up?


It looked like it was a partition separating them


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## King of Sorrow (May 28, 2018)

It seems the father went out to run some errands and upon leaving the store decided to play Pokémon Go, delaying his return. The child has been returned to him as the child welfare services has not found an immediate danger to the child and he is on bail but he will have to go before the courts in September and faces two years in prison for neglect of parental obligations. The wife does not live in continental France. She and the rest of the family still live in La Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.



DST1913 said:


> I'm confused. From the video it looks like someone else was on the balcony. Am I seeing things? If so why didn't they pull the kid up?



It was the neighbor, reaching across the barrier between the two balconies. Gassama had started climbing up before the neighbor came out and it looked the neighbor was close to safely pulling the kid in when Gassama reached him. 

If that man isn't married, he is about to be.


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## Shimmie (May 28, 2018)

WhoIAm said:


> It was kinda funny how Gassama snatched the child over the balcony like a black mama.
> 
> I'm impressed by his upper body strength.


Adrenalin never fails....


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## Shimmie (May 28, 2018)

Kemmie said:


> It seems the father went out to run some errands and u*pon leaving the store decided to play Pokémon Go, delaying his return*.



   How old is this father?  Is he a teenager?   He sure has the mind of one who stop and play a game and not consider being responsible for the child's safety being alone.     I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the habit of leaving the child alone...to 'run errands and such'.


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## JFK (May 28, 2018)

WhoIAm said:


> I'm impressed by his upper body strength.



Me and you both.
It's Ramadan....let me go.


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## TCatt86 (May 28, 2018)

lesedi said:


> Wait, who leaves a 4 year od alone?? I go into the bathroom for 5 minutes and my 3 year old is diving off couches and tables and conducting 'experiments'. How could they leave a 4 year old alone???



I can't even leave my toddler to go to the kitchen. I went to the kitchen to get water came back not even a minute later. He waa standing on the dining room table.


Kemmie said:


> It seems the father went out to run some errands and upon leaving the store decided to play Pokémon Go, delaying his return. The child has been returned to him as the child welfare services has not found an immediate danger to the child and he is on bail but he will have to go before the courts in September and faces two years in prison for neglect of parental obligations. The wife does not live in continental France. She and the rest of the family still live in La Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Who leaves a 4yr old in the house alone? Are the rules different in France. This is illegal in the U.S.


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## frizzy (May 28, 2018)

JFK said:


> Me and you both.
> *It's Ramadan....let me go.*


LOL!!  _Git!_


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## King of Sorrow (May 28, 2018)

Shimmie said:


> How old is this father?  Is he a teenager?   He sure has the mind of one who stop and play a game and not consider being responsible for the child's safety being alone.     I wouldn't be surprised if he's in the habit of leaving the child alone...to 'run errands and such'.



37 years old. 

The papers are reporting that after Gassama reached the top and pulled in the kid he found the balcony door was locked. That better have been a self-locking door...


EDIT: It seems he lives on the 6th floor and fell down to and was holding on to the balcony on the 5th Floor... This story gets crazier by the hour.


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## Pat Mahurr (May 28, 2018)

People are so different in their responses to adrenalin.  Gassama saw the child and reacted by scaling the building.  Someone else reacted by recording.  I’m sure others just stood by gasping, holding their breath, unable to look away, feeling helpless, afraid, etc. even though they were full of adrenalin.  Their hearts reached out, but their bodies didn’t move.

I  think it’s a rare and really _divine_ set of circumstances when a person is present, physically able, willing to help and chooses to disregard their personal safety to save a stranger.  When it happens, it doesn’t even look like a choice they make— it’s like they couldn’t stop if they tried.


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## Shula (May 28, 2018)

Bravo Monsiuer Spidey!! He deserves all the platitudes and rewards. That's a nice lil president they got over there. The Waffle House Superman couldn't even get a timely courtesy call. This is normally where I type LOL but it's not even funny.


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## DST1913 (May 28, 2018)

Kemmie said:


> It seems the father went out to run some errands and upon leaving the store decided to play Pokémon Go, delaying his return. The child has been returned to him as the child welfare services has not found an immediate danger to the child and he is on bail but he will have to go before the courts in September and faces two years in prison for neglect of parental obligations. The wife does not live in continental France. She and the rest of the family still live in La Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Got it. From my angle looks like he could have easily grabbed him but I guess maybe there was a partition.  That kid is strong as heck to hang on for so long and smart to not let go.


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## RossBoss (May 28, 2018)

greight said:


> I do not like the* racist French *but I’m happy for the black man that he gets his dream while also saving a child’s life.
> 
> Bravo!



I would think that a good portion of Whites in all European countries are racist, no worse or no better than France.


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## LovelyNaps26 (May 28, 2018)

Meanwhile back on the ranch Trump would have him deported post haste.


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## luckiestdestiny (May 28, 2018)

brg240 said:


> This made me tear up. I'm so glad that he was able to save him.
> 
> Also is disgusting they've only granted citizenship to 5 people.
> 
> Ruin a country and then leave them to pick up the peices


I think they mean for "exceptional talent"  or "services rendered the community, etc. Not that is all that are granted citizenship but all granted citizenship for this specific ability. I remember looking at their rules and seeing that and knowing it was for a person who did something exceptional to bypass all the other "laws" of how long you have to be there, etc. Kinda like a nobel peace prize winner, award winning author for exceptional talent or...someone like this guy for "services rendered the community".  

There are many other ways to become a citizen but this one is one of those ways to by pass all the other "stuff" and get it expedited. So it is meant to be a rare occurrence.


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## Queenie (May 28, 2018)

I love this guy's story. He is amazing, and now his dream is coming true. That climbing was amazing. I'm glad Macron quickly thanked him and met with him.
Yes, it's unfortunate that in the US we don't do this for our real life heroes.


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## hothair (May 28, 2018)

This touched me . He risked his life and could well have been deported on top of it. Thank goodness this particular French president is more normal than others.

I am totally baffled at where the heck the parents of this boy are!!!


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## FelaShrine (May 28, 2018)

Here I thought I was a hero yesterday when did a split payment at Target yesterday when I started to pay with cash then realized I needed cash on me and paid the rest of the total with my card and upon getting my receipt the cashier gave me the cash part back. Now a hell bound non-hero wpuld have taken the cash and the girl's try would have been short and that would have put her in trpuble, worse lose her job, instead I gave it right back to her because..shero.

mainly cos it was the Sabbath and a black teen. Had she been white, well..

anyway 

Good for him. It's the least France could do,Awon eranko.


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## luckiestdestiny (May 29, 2018)

Came back to see this again. I just love good stories. It is wonderful when things work out for people, _especially _black people because we are having to deal with _so _much.  And of course, I love children so I'm glad the child was saved!  It is just a heartwarming story all around.


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