The moment a man scaled four storeys of a Paris apartment to rescue a dangling boy was captured on camera.
Mamoudou Gassama arrived in the French capital from Mali just a few months ago. On Saturday evening (local time) the 22-year-old was walking down Rue Marx-Dormoy in Paris' 18th arrondissement [district] when he heard people shouting and sounding their car horns.
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He looked up to see a small boy dangling off the side of an apartment balcony some four storeys high. Without a second thought, Mr Gassama sprang into action.
Video shows him clambering quickly up the side of the building, pulling himself from balcony to balcony. Two other people can be seen reaching out to try to hold onto the boy from a neighbouring apartment.
Within a matter of moments Mr Gassama reached for the child, grabbing him by one arm and hauling him to safety.
He didn't seek attention after his courageous act, and was only tracked down by reporters the following day.
He told local media that despite his seeming fearlessness in the face of danger, he felt far from calm during the dramatic rescue.
"I felt afraid when I saved the child," he told BFM Paris.
"[When] we went into the living room, I started to shake, I could hardly stand up, I had to sit down."
Since footage of his bravery went viral, Mr Gassama has been admired around the world, with some calling him 'Spiderman of the 18th' for the arrondissement in which the rescue took place.
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted her congratulations and said that she had spoken to the man on the phone as well.
French president Emmanuel Macron has invited Mr Gassama to the Elysée Palace to thank him personally.
The child's father was held for questioning by police as it is believed he left his four-year-old son alone in their apartment.
Newshub.
