France will give residence papers to an illegal immigrant from Mali who scaled the facade of a Paris apartment block to save a boy who was about to fall from a fourth-floor balcony, President Emmanuel Macron said.
Video shows Mamoudou Gassama, 22, risking his life as he climbed up the balconies to rescue the four-year-old who is clinging to a railing and glancing at the ground below, while horrified onlookers watched.
The video went viral and Mr Gassama, who has been nicknamed "Spider Man" for conducting the rescue in less than a minute, was swiftly granted a meeting at the Elysee Palace.
"This is an exceptional act," Mr Macron told Mr Gassama.
"We'll obviously be setting all your papers straight and if you wish it, we will start the process naturalisation so that you can become French," he added.
22yo Mamoudou Gassama AKA #Spiderman🕷️
— TonyWalsh🌞توني والش (@TonyWalsh_me) May 28, 2018
scales a building in #Paris🇫🇷
SuperHero style 👏👏via@Adil__Brownpic.twitter.com/xAsEj9oHyb
The meeting with Mr Macron was closely followed by French news channel BFM and was the number one headline this morning.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo praised Mr Gassama's heroism and said the city will support his effort to settle in France.
Mr Macron told Mr Gassama he hoped he could hold a "meaningful" job in the country.
"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," she said.
Mr Gassama told Ms Hidalgo by phone yesterday that he arrived from Mali a few months ago and wished to stay in France.
"I replied that his heroic gesture was 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," she said.
The rescued boy had been left unattended by his parents, BFM said.
His father was arrested and then detained following the incident on suspicion of not fulfilling his parental responsibility.
"I did it because it was a child," French newspaper Le Parisien quoted Mr Gassama as saying.
"I climbed .... Thank God I saved him."
