France’s ‘Spider-Man’ starts his job as a firefighter months after saving a baby dangling from a balcony

Mr Gassama has started his job with the Paris Fire Brigade
Pompiers de Paris
Sophie Williams2 July 2018

France’s ‘Spider-Man’ has started his first day as a firefighter two months after he was pictured climbing a building to rescue a child dangling from a balcony.

Following the incident, he was awarded French citizenship by President Macron and given a job with the Paris Fire Brigade.

The Paris Fire Service tweeted a picture of Mr Gassama with 23 other new recruits. He began his new job on Sunday.

Mr Macron rewarded Mr Gassama for his “exceptional act” with legal papers, citizenship and a job with the fire service.

During a one-on-one meeting at Elysee Palace last month, Mr Macron awarded him with a medal for “courage and devotion.”

Mr Gassama was dubbed “Spider-Man” for climbing up five floors from balcony to balcony, and whisking a four-year-old boy to safety as a crowd screamed at the foot of the building in Paris’ northern 18th arondissement.

The astonishing footage shows Mr Gassama rescuing the child in just 30 seconds.

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) speaks with Mamoudou Gassama, 22, from Mali, at the presidential Elysee Palace in Paris
AFP/Getty Images

The young man said he had papers to legally stay in Italy where he arrived in Europe after crossing the Mediterranean after a long, rough stay in Libya.

He said that he wanted to join his older brother, who has lived in France for decades.

During the meeting, Mr Macron said: “You saved a child. Without you, no one knows what would have become of him.”

The father of the child was detained for alleged parental neglect.

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