The very real life and appropriately nicknamed ‘Le Spider-Man’ Mamoudou Gassama has had his first day on the job with the Paris Fire Brigade.
You may remember Gassama as the freak-of-nature who made climbing a vertical wall look easy as he heroically rescued a toddler.
Gassama is one of 24 fresh-faced recruits who have signed up for voluntary civic service roles with the French brigade. The recruits started their jobs on Sunday.
24 nouveaux volontaires service civique dont Mamoudou Gassama ont rejoint cet après midi la brigade de sapeurs-pompiers de Paris. Félicitations à eux 👩🚒👏 Pour celles et ceux qui veulent nous rejoindre ➡️https://t.co/j8oOCktHbv pic.twitter.com/bcc6h448nP
— @PompiersParis (@PompiersParis) June 28, 2018
Gassama, an undocumented immigrant from Mali, had his immigration papers fast-tracked earlier this week as reported by The Guardian. Afterwards, he visited a fire station and signed up to a 10-month internship worth AUD$936 a month.
Back in May, the 22-year-old had been watching a football game at a restaurant when he noticed a commotion on the street outside. Curious, Gassama joined the growing crowd and spotted a four-year-old boy dangling from the edge of a balcony.
Gassama immediately scaled four storeys of the apartment building to rescue the child.
The undeniably fit bloke had told Le Parisien he “did not think of the risk”.
Here’s some footage of the incredible rescue:
Les héros ne portent pas de cap. 👏👏 #Paris pic.twitter.com/QrOn3YB4Q7
— 🏺 (@Nefertemkhoure) May 27, 2018
That’s less than 40 seconds to climb four storeys.
I can’t even do one pull-up.
Gassama was invited to Élysée Palace to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. During the chat, Gassama was awarded a certificate and gold medal for his act of tremendous courage and dedication, offered French citizenship, and a job with the fire brigade.
The hero will officially become a French citizen in three or so months.
Parisian mayor Anne Hidalgo had also thanked Gassama via a phone call and tweeted, “the City of Paris will obviously be keen to support him in his efforts to settle in France.”
Meanwhile… the toddler’s father, who was charged with leaving his son unsupervised to go shopping, will be sentenced in September.
